iEx  Safaris 


SEYMOUR    DURST 


~t '  'Fort  ntevu/    ^Im/ferdam^  oj?  Je  Mirn/iatans 


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\\  i  ry  Arc  hitectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gii  i  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


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0  0  IN  T  E  N  T  S  . 

Miscellaneous  Endorsements 1,  15 

The  need  of  Rapid  Transit 1 

Transit  Difficulties  and  their  Remedy 3 

Effect  of  Transit  Facilities  on  Real  Estate 5 

Arcade  or  Tunnel  Roads 8 

Description  of  the  Arcade  Plan— 1883 15,  '20 

Opinions  of  Peter  Cooper,  Com.  Vanderbilt,  etc 19 

Opinions  of  Eminent  Engineers 20 

1881,    Purchase  of  Beach  Pneumatic  Charter 21 

Charter  Amended — Company  reorganized 21 

1883,  Legal  Proceedings 22 

Commissioners'  Report  on  Tunnel  Plan 22,  23 

Legislative  Action 24,    25 

Property  Owners'  Opposition 25,  32,  37 

Election  of  Board  of  Trustees 26 

Examination  of  London  Underground  Railway,  by  Officers  and  Engineer  of  Co.  .27 
Comparison  of  Arcade  with  London  Roads,  by  Wm.  J.  McAlpine 28 

1884,  Legislative  Action 28,  29,  30,  35 

Circular  Letter  to  Property  Owners 29 

Hearing  before  Senate  and  Assembly  R.  R.  Committees 30 

Invitation  to  Property  Owners  to  Examine  Plans 31 

Additional  Transit  Facilities  Imperative,  30,31,32,33,34,35,45,46,47,49,51,57,63,46,00,07 

The  Future  of  Broadway 34 

General  Benj.  F.  Butler's  Letter •. 35 

Senate  and  Assembly  Vote 36 

Heaiing  before  Gov.  Cleveland  37 

Letters  of  Endorsement  and  13,000  Petitioners 38 

1885,  Legislative  Action 48,  49 

Name  Changed  to  New  York  Arcade  Railway  Company 45 

Grosvenor  P.  Lowrey's  Opinion — Evening  Post  Interview 46 

Plan  of  Road  between  Curb  Lines,  Illustrated 42,  43 

Plan  of  Road  between  Curb  Lines 48, 49,  50 

Hearing  before  Governor  Hill 52,  53,  54 

Benefits  to  the  "Working  Man  and  the  Masses !),  35,  54,  64,  70,  71,  72,  73 

Governor  Hill's  Action 54,  55,  56 

Press  Comments ....  56,  57 

Subways  a  necessity  for  Pipes,  Wires,  etc   59,  60,  61 

Freight  Traffic  Advantages 63,  66 

Sanitary  Benefits 64 

Early  Legislation,  1870,  etc 68 

How  Often  People  Ride — (travel  within  cities) ' 68 

Passenger  Traffic — Past,  Present  and  Future 71 


New  York  Arcade  Railway  Company. 


Its  Purpose. 

The  purpose  of  the  Arcade  Railway  Company  is  to  construct  a 
four-track  underground  railroad  for  the  carrying  of  passengers  and 
freight — both  through  and  way. 

Its  Plan. 

The  plan  of  the  Company  is  to  build  such  road  under  Broadway 
and  Madison  Avenue  for  which  it  holds  a  special  grant ;  and  it  seeks 
to  build  it  of  such  width  as  to  accommodate  the  widest  cars,  while 
its  road  will  have  the  requisites  of  good  light  and  pure  air. 

The  Advantages  of  the  Arcade  Road. 

It  has  the  best  route  and  the  best  plan. 

It  provides  a  capacious  gallery  for  all  water  mains,  pipes,  wires,  &c. 

It  is  the  only  proposed  road  which  has  ever  received  the  unqual- 
ified endorsement  of  the  great  engineers  of  the  country. 

It  will  meet  the  wants  of  the  people,  and  is  in  their  interests. 

It  will  take  no  property  in  use  tor  an)-  other  purpose,  and  will 
injure  no  individual. 

It  will  connect  the  city  ot  New  York  more  closely  with  every 
section  of  the  country,  by  affording  a  through  route  for  passengers 
and  freight  without  change  of  cars  or  breaking  of  bulk. 

It  will  afford  real  rapid  transit,  which  neither  fogs  nor  storms  can 
hinder  or  delay. 

It  will  be  the  only  artistic,  permanent,  comprehensive,  and  unobjec- 
tionable underground  road. 

It  is  the  only  underground  road  which  can  be  built  and  fully 
meet  the   needs  of  the  present  and  the  demands  of  the  future. 

It  will  increase  the  wealth  of  the  city,  disseminate  its  over- 
crowded population,  and  centralize  its  commerce. 

Its  capacity  will  be  unlimited,  and  its  benefits  cannot  be  over- 
estimated. 


VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS 


ON    TIIK 


NEW    YORK    ARCADE    RAILWAY 


The  following  extracts  from  the  public  press,  with  many  others  of 
like  character,  which  have  appeared  throughout  the  State,  express,  in 
unmistakable  terms,  the  unanimity  of  the  people  in  favor  of  the  Ar- 
cade Railway    . 

The  whole  subject  is  reduced  to  the  simplest  form  of  a  logical 
proposition.  The  people  are  clamorous  for  increased  facilities  for 
travel  in  the  City  of  New  York.  After  thorough  investigation  their 
decision  is  in  favor  of  an  underground  railway,  and  they  unequivo- 
cally endorse  the  Arcade  Plan  as  the  most  comprehensive,  practicable 
and  desirable. 


Sew  York  Sun,  May  10,  1885. 

The   Broadway   Railroad. 

********* 

What  Broadway  needs,  and  what  the  city 
needs,  is  an  underground  railroad,  or  a  railroad 
below  the  surface  of  the  street,  which  could 
use  powerful  locomotives  capable  of  drawing 
long  express  and  way  trains  at  the  hours  in  the 
morning  and  evening  when  the  travel  is  the 
greatest,  and  could  afford  accommodations  ut- 
terly impossible  to  the  elevated  roads.  A  sur- 
face railway  might  be  well  enough  along  a  part 
of  Broadway  below  Union  square,  but  its  slow 
transportation  would  give  little  relief,  anil  its 
benefit  to  business  and  property  in  the  street 
■would  be  comparatively  slight. 

The  best  project  yet  proposed  is  tin- .  1  rcade 
Railway  in  which  the  discomforts  and  disad- 
vantages of  the  underground  railways  of  Lon- 
don would  be  overcome  and  altogether  obvia- 
ted. Until  we  get  some  such  method  of  rapid 
transit  through  the  centre  of  the  Island,  the 
imperative  requirements  of  New  York  will  be 
left  unsupplied,  and  the  progress  of  the  city 
will  be  retarded. 


New  York  Tribune,  June  26,  1885. 

Travel  in  ISroadway. 

Travel  is  likely  to  increase  so  fast  over  the 
Broadway  route  that  all  Mr.  Sharp's  resources 
will  prove  inadequate  to  provide  for  it.  It  is 
the  central,  the  natural,  the  convenient  line  «f 
travel  for  this  city,  and  when  the  horse-cars 
are  unable  to  carry  the  hosts  that  will  press  to 
Broadway,  the  underground  road  is  sure  to 
come.  There  are  millions — many  of  them — 
in  a  railway  running  fast  trains  under  Broad- 
way. And  in  time  even  tin  must  stubborn 
real  estate  owner  may  conclude  that  th>  re 
an  things  in  this  town  more  important  than 
vaults. 


New  York  Times,  Nov.  24,  1885. 

The  Need  of  Kapid  Transit. 

The  increase  of  the  Sunday  business  on  the 
elevated  roads,  caused  by  the  reduction  in  the 
rate  of  fare,  has  had  the  effect  of  showing  very 
clearly  the  inadequacy  of  those  roads  to  the 
work  devolved  upon  them.  On  week  days 
there  is  a  crush  during  an  hour  or  two — coming 


•  Note.— The  Company  h»3  a  charter  to  build  a  tunnel  road  under  Broadway  and  other  streets,  confirmed  by  the 
Legislature  in  1381. 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


down  in  the  morning  and  going  up  in  the 
evening — but  on  Sunday  the  cars  are  crowded 
during  the  hours  when  there  is  plenty  of  room 
on  other  days,  so  that  whoever  boards  a  train 
six  or  seven  stations  from  the  terminus  of  the 
road  finds  it  impossible  to  travel  in  comfort. 

This  state  of  things  will  grow  worse  instead 
of  better  as  travel  increases.  There  is  ample 
room  for  improvement  in  the  administration  of 
the  roads.  But  this  difficulty  of  over-crowding 
cannot  be  removed  by  any  improvement  in  the 
administration.  It  is  inherent  in  the  system  on 
which  the  elevated  roads  are  built. 

It  is  plain  that  more  passengers  can  be  ac- 
commodated only  by  an  increase  either  in  the 
number  of  trains  or  in  the  length  of  the  trains. 
It  is  evident  to  every  passenger  that  the  num- 
ber of  trains  cannot  be  increased.  The  "  head- 
way "on  which  they  arc  now  run  during  the 
busy  hours  cannot  be  lessened  with  safety. 
********* 

The  risk  is  now  very  serious,  and  any  con- 
siderable increase  in  the  number  of  trains 
would  convert  it  into  the  certainty  of   disaster. 

A  very  little  consideration  will  show  that  no 
relief  can  be  expected  from  the  alternative  ex- 
pedient of  an  increase  in   the  length   of  trains. 

But  the  real  difficulty  is  that  heavier  trains 
cannot  lie  run.  The  Locomotives  now  in  use 
are  barely  able  to  drag  trains  of  four  loaded 
cars  up  such  grades  as  occur  on  all  the  lines, 
and  when  the  track  is  at  all  slippery  tiny  have 
been  shown  to  be  unable  to  do  even  this.  Be- 
sides the  weight  of  the  additional  cars  in  longer 
trains  than  ale  now  run,  more  powerful,  and 
consequently  larger  and  heavier  locomotives 
must  be  employed  to  draw  such  trains.  This 
additional  weight  the  existing  structure  is  not 
adequate  to  sustain.     * 

As  the  facilities  ottered  by  the  elevated  roads 
are  thus  inadequate  to  the  increasing  demand, 
and  as  these  roads  are  now  worked  to  their 
utmost  capacity,  it  is  plain  that  they  no  longer 
solve  the  problem  of  rapid  transit  which  they 
were  devised  to  solve.  They  have  performed 
an  enormous  public  service  in  rendering  acces- 
sible for  residence  the  upper  parts  of  the 
island,  and  have  amply  fulfilled  their  function 
as  a  temporary  expedient.  In  fact,  their  fail- 
ure  is  tin  result  of  the  work  performed  by 
them.  They  have  ■■■rait*  a  tin  demand  they 
are  no  longer  able  to  satisfy.  It  is  noru  tin 
less  true  Unit  tht  tinu  has  now  come  when  a 
system  of  transit  much  mort  permanent, 
comprehensive,  and  efficient  must  be  devised 

and  put  into  opt  rut  ion. 


New  York  Times,  June  1,  1885. 

******  There  ought 
to  be  a  prompt  and  adequate  enlargement  of 
the  means  of  getting  about  quickly  in  this 
crowded  and  ill-shaped  city,  and  the  plan 
adopted  by  tin  projectors  of  tin'  Arcade 
scheme  is  tin  most  promising  one  yet  pro- 
posed. 


New  York  Herald,  May  28,  1883. 

More  Rapid  Transit. 

New  Yorkers  seem  in  a  fair  way  of  getting 
as  many  facilities  for  rapid  local  travel 
as  they  want.  The  proposed  Arcade  rail- 
road, described  in  another  column,  prom- 
ises better  than  the  elevated  roads  have  per- 
formed, for  it  is  to  make  no  smoke  at  all,  trains 
are  to  travel  about  twenty-five  miles  an  hour, 
including  stops,  and  the  fare  is  to  be  five  cents, 
except  on  drawing-room  cars.  That  under- 
ground railroads  can  be  successfully  built  and 
profitably  run  has  already  been  proved  in  Eng- 
land, and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  a 
road  here  can  get  enough  patronage  to  keep  it 
very  busy.  There  never  was  a  city  located 
more  to  the  liking  of  local  carriers  of  passen- 
gers, and  its  facilities  must  be  increased  very 
greatly  before  the  public  is  fully  accommo- 
dated. Every  one  who  travels  between  the  ex- 
tremities of  the  city  will  wish  the  new  enter- 
prise the  best  of  pluck  and  luck. 


New  York  World,  May  15,  1885. 

The  Arcade  Railroad  bill  is  likely  to  succeed 
in  getting  through  the  Legislature.  It  is 
strongly  opposed  by  some  of  our  contempo- 
raries as  a  "job."  As  it  will  have  to  jmy  for 
all  the  property  it  takes,  ami  as  the  people 
know  their  rights  better  now  than  they  did 
when  the  elevated  roads  were  built,  we  do  not 
see  where  the  "  job  "  comes  in.  We  certainly 
need  an  Underground  railroad,  or  some  rail- 
road that  will  run  on  a  solid  road-bed,  such  as 
masonry- work,  through  the  city.  The  Eleva- 
ted roads  will  in  a  few  years  he  as  inefficient  as 
the  horse-cars  were  ten  years  ago.  *         *         * 


New  York  Star,  April  18,  1883. 

The  Broadway  Arcade  Railroad. 

Something  entirely  novel  in  the  solution  of 
New  York's  rapid  transit  problems  is  proposed 
by  the  Broadway  Underground  Radway  Com- 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


puny,  whose  charter  the  Assembly  yesterday 
voted  tn  amend  and  extend.  Instead  of  bor- 
ing ii  dark,  double-barreled  tunnel  under 
the  street,  the  projectors  of  this  enterprise 
have  perfected  every  detail  for  reconstructing 
Broadway  into  a  two-story  avenue.  Whatever 
minor  objections  ma\  be  raised  to  their  scheme, 
it  ia  beyond  all  comparison  the  most  attract 
Hue,  comprehensivt  >ih<i  artistic  conception 
yet  laid  befort  th<  "public  for  filling  a  long- 
felt  want. 

New  York  Morning  Journal,  May  23,  1885. 

An  Underground  Wonder. 

When  the  Thames  runnel  was  built  all  the 
world  wondered.  When  the  first  London  un- 
derground railroad  was  opened  the  tunnel  was 
forgotten.  To-day  European  engineers  come 
to  marvel  at  the  Brooklyn  bridge.  When  the 
Broadway  Underground  Railroad  is  complett  d 
the  Continent  of  Europe  and  the  islands  of 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  will  scarce  contain 
the  sponges  that  will  be  thrown  up. 


N.  Y.  Journal  of  Commerce,  July  21,  1884. 

A  Righteous  Decision. 

Judge  Van  Hoeson's  decision  in  the  Elevated 
Railroad  ease  is  perfectly  clear  and  sound.  * 
*  There  can  be  no  complete  and  lasting 
remedy  until  the  statute  which  the  company 
makes  the  pretext  of  all  their  high-handed  as- 
sumptions is  repealed,  and  the  roads  are  taken 
down  and  proper  underground  lines  or  via- 
ducts constructed  to  supply  the  only  kind  of 
rapid  transit  worthy  of  a  great  city.  New 
York  never  can  become  a  peer  of  London 
or  Paris  till  this  is  done.  In  their  nature  the 
structures  are  transitory,  not  permanent.  Good 
enough  to  serve  some  temporary  purpose  in  a 
second-rate  city,  they  are  wholly  out  of  place 
in  a  metropolis. 


New  York  Truth,  April  13,  1884. 

Rapid  Transit. 

********* 

An  underground  railroad  is  the  only  one 
which  can  combine  both  speed  and  safety  in 
giving  us  genuine  rapid  transit. 

Some  means  of  escape  must  be  found,  and 
this  appears  to  be  the  only  one. 


vast  extension  of  the  city,  the  multiplication 
of  its  population,  and  the  changes  wrought  in 
habits  by  new  methods  of  transit  have  pro- 
duced a  stale  of  things  in  which  the  great 
thoroughfare  is  manifestly  incapable  of  serv- 
ing the  purposes  which  it  ought  to  serve.  It 
is  obvious  that  some  other  and  better  means  of 
travel  than  the  omnibus  be  provided,  or  Broad- 
way must  c.as.'  i  .  serve  as  the  great  longitu- 
dinal artery  of  traffic.  Business  must  seek 
other  streets  naturally  less  fit  to  accommo- 
date it,  and  Broadway  must  become  simply  a 
wagon  road. 

It  needs  no  argument  to  make  it  clear  that 
some  improved  means  of  travel  must  be  pro- 
vided, and  the  question  is  simply  what  means, 
on  the  whole,  will  best  serve  the  purpose  at 
least  sacrifice  of  other  interests.  Three  plans 
suggest  themselves.  There  may  be  an  eleva- 
ted road,  a  surface  road,  or  an  underground 
road.  An  elevated  road  is  objectionable  on 
many  accounts.  It  would  darken  and  obstruct 
the  street,  and,  as  experience  has  abundantly 
shown,  it  would  soon  be  inadequate  to  the  need, 
as  the  Third  and  Sixth  avenue  roads  are  now. 
It  would  seriously  interfere  with  the  circula- 
tion of  air,  which  is  none  too  free  in  this  city 
now.  It  would  be  unsightly,  and  would  de- 
stroy what  little  is  left  of  the  city's  beauty  be- 
low Union  square. 

There  remains  the  underground,  or  more 
properly,  the  Arcade  i>l<tu,  and  in  that,  it 
seems  to  us,  we  have  at  once  the  best  aud 
only  satisfactory  solution  of  tin-  problem. 
There  is  room  between  the  curbs  for  four 
tracks,  two  of  which,  devoted  exclusively  to 
express  trains,  will  furnish  a  perfect  meaus  of 
really  rapid  transit  from  the  lower  to  the  upper 
parts  of  the  city,  while  the  other  two  will  ac- 
commodate way  trains  that  can  be  run  at  a 
high  rate  of  speed  for  intermediate  traffic.  In 
brief,  such  a  road  will  give  the  city  rapid  tran- 
sit of  the  most  perfect  kind  imaginable.  Mean- 
time the  roadway  above  will  be  unobstructed, 
and  light  and  air  will  not  be  cut  off.  The  Ar- 
cade will  accommodate  sewers,  gas  pipes,  tele- 
graph wires,  and  everything  else  that  should 
go  underground. 

It  seems  to  us  perfectly  clear  Hint  in  itself 
the  Arcadt  plan  is  tin  t,<  st  that  could  be  de- 
vised,and  that  its  execution  is  a  practical 
in  a  ssity. 


N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser,  May  26,  1885. 

The  Arcade  Railway. 

New  York  has  outgrown  Broadway.     The 


New  York  Evening  Post,  Nov.  21,  1885. 

Transit  Difficulties  and  Their  Remedy. 

The  animated  controversy  which  is  in  pro- 
gress concerning  the  question  of  omnibuses  or 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


street  cars  for  the  Ff th  Avenue  is  calling  fresh 
attention  to  what  has  for  several  years  been  an 
obvious  fact — namely,  the  entire  inadequacy  of 
the  present  elevated  railway  system  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  constantly  increasing  pas- 
senger traffic.  The  elevated  roads  were  in 
fact  a  mere  temporary  expedient,  offering  no 
solution  of  the  rapid-transit  problem  either  in 
point  of  speed  or  amplitude  of  accommoda- 
tion. 
********* 

The  problem  is  a  much  greater  one  than 
that  which  the  property-owners  on  Fifth  ave- 
nue are  considering.  It  canuot  be  solved  by 
the  establishing  of  omnibus  lines  or  the  mul- 
tiplication of  street  railways,  excellent  and 
necessary  as  both  these  additions  to  our  pres- 
ent facilities  are.  Neither  can  it  be  solved  by 
the  addition  of  new  elevated  railway  lines.  As 
we  have  said,  the  elevated  system  is  merely 
a  temporary  expedient.  It  has  never  given  us 
genuine  rapid  transit,  and  it  is  shown  now  to 
be  inadequate  to  give  us  comfortable  transit. 
There  is  only  one  adequate  remedy,  and  that 
is  a  four-track  underground  railway  running 
the  entire  length  of  the  city,  with  two  tracks 
for  local  trains  and  two  for  express  trains.  The 
latter  ought  to  make  no  stop  below  Twenty- 
third  street,  or  possibly  below  Forty-second 
street,  and  only  two  or  three  between  the  Bat- 
tery and  Harlem.  Sooner  or  later  we  shall 
come  to  it,  for  it  is  the  greatest  necessity  of 
the  time.  Through  trains  would  give  the  pres- 
ent elevated  and  street-cars  over  to  short-dis- 
tance traffic,  and  there  would  be  enough  of 
that  to  keep  them  well  filled. 


rapid  growth  of  the  upper  part  of  this  city.  In 
1850  there  were  only  113,344  people  above 
Fourteenth  street ;  in  1880  there  were  604,851. 
This  population  urgently  demands  additional 
suburban  transportation  facilities.  Thirty  years 
ago  the  citizens  of  New  York  rode  in  the  cars 
on  an  average  only  twelve  times  a  year.  Now 
they  ride  more  than  two  hundred  times  apiece. 

But  surface  roads  will  not  afford  all  the  ac- 
commodation needed  in  addition  to  that  given 
by  the  present  elevated  roads.  The  latter  do 
not  meet  the  requirements  of  the  city  in  the 
matter  of  real  rapid  transit.  They  have  al- 
ready been  outgrown.  At  certain  hours  of  the 
day  they  are  crowded  beyond  their  capacity  to 
furnish  proper  accommodation.  Moreover, 
they  do  not  really  furnish  quick  transit  over 
long  distances. 

If  half  the  projects  which  have  been  intro- 
duced into  the  Legislature  at  Albany  this  win- 
ter are  carried  out,  they  wdl  transform  the 
streets  of  New  York  into  one  stupendous  pano- 
rama of  railroad  cars.  They  embrace  tunnel 
and  arcade,  depressed,  surface  and  elevated 
lines,  to  be  run  by  steam,  horse  and  cable 
power.  In  a  matter  of  such  great  importance 
to  property  owners  they  will  do  well  to  guard 
carefully  their  interests. 

Tin  projt  ct  which  gives  most  promise  of real 
rapid  transit  is  thai  which  proposes  an  under- 
ground  line  in  Broadway  on  the  Arcade  plan. 
This  contemplates  separate  tracks  for  through 
travel,  on  which  trains  will  be  run  at  the  rate 
of  thirty  miles  an  hour,  with  stopping  places 
at  proper  intervals,  and  other  tracks  for  way 
trains  with  more  frequent  stops. 


Sew  York  Telegram,  May  6,  1884. 

Rapid    Transit     to    Washington    Heights. 

The  number  of  passengers  now  carried  by 
the  surface  railroads  exceeds  the  number  car- 
ried by  them  before  the  elevated  roads  were 
built.  There  is  pressing  need  for  additional 
facilities  for  conveyance  to  the  upper  part  of 
the  city,  to  the.  banks  of  the  Harlem  River, 
and  especially  to  Washington  Heights,  the 
most  picturesque  and  attractive  part  of  Man- 
hattan Island,  where  the  most  charming  homes 
may  be  secured.  But  the  effort  to  obtain 
these  facilities  is  beset  with  schemes,  the  pro- 
moters of  which  have  little  regard  for  the  in- 
ereets  of  the  people.  Expt  rit  nee  has  shownthat 
the  amount  of  / ran  I  <m  city  railroads  increas- 
es in  proportion  to  the  facilities  furnished. 
It  is  not  limited  to  the  growth  of  the  popula- 
tion.    Few   people  realize  the  enormous  and 


The  Mail  and  Express,  Jan.  20,  1885. 

New  York's  Growth  and  the  Manhattan 
Railway  System. 

The  recent  consideration  in  these  columns  of 
the  revelations  of  the  official  statistics  of  the 
State  Engineer,  as  to  the  railway  traffic  of  this 
city,  has  excited  an  interest  which  has  prompt- 
ed further  investigation  of  that  and  kindred 
subjects,  and  the  search  has  been  rewarded  by 
an  array  of  statistics  which  must  be  regarded 
as  marvellous,  both  as  an  exhibition  of  past 
achievement,  and  as  a  prophecj  of  future 
progress.  A  study  of  the  city's  history  reveals 
a  most  remarkable  development  during  the 
years  since  the  establishment  of  the  rapid 
transit  system.  Parts  of  the  city  hitherto 
inaccessible  have  been  brought  within  half  an 
hour  of  down-town  offices,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
building  has  progressed  with  amazing  rapidity 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


from  the  centre  to  the  northern  extremity  of 
Manhattan  Island,  so  that,  while  contributing 
the  growth  of  New  York,  the  Manhattan  Kail- 
way  Company  has  literally  been  creating  a 
population  to  still  further  expand  its  already 
vast  traffic. 

The  measure  of  a  city's  growth  is,  first,  its 
increase  of  population,  and, second,  its  increase 
of  real  estate  valuation,  and  a  survey  of  the 
facts  here  presented  will  conclusively  show 
that  in  the  growth  of  New  York  the  Manhattan 
Railway  system  has  become  a  most  important 
factor.  The  New  York  Elevated  Railway  was 
opened  in  1871,  but  its  traffic  was  light  for 
several  years.  During  the  twelve  months 
ending  with  September,  1878,  about  9,250,000 
passengers  were  carried,  but  during  the  next 
year— the  first  in  which  all  the  lines  were  in 
operation — the  number  carried  exceeded  46,- 
000,000.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the 
effect  of  the  development  of  the  rapid  transit 
system  ought  to  be  perceptible  in  the  real 
estate  valuation  of  1878-9.  How  great  the 
factor  then  introduced  really  was  may  be 
judged  from  the  following  statement  of  the 
valuation  for  ten  years,  with  the  amount  of 
annual  increase  and  the  rate  per  cent. 

Valuation.  Increase.        Per  ct. 

1875 $883,643,545  $2,095,550  0.2 

1876 892,428,165  8,784,620  0.9 

1877 895,063,933  2,635,968  0.3 

1878  900,855,700  5,791,767  0.6 

1879 918,134,380  17,278.680  1.9 

1880 942,571,690  24,437,310  2.6 

1881 976,735,199  34,163,509  3.6 

1882 1,035,203,866  58,468,617  5.9 

1883 1,079,130,669  43,926,853  4.2 

1884 1,119,761,597  40,(30,928  3.7 

It  will  be  noticed  that  during  the  years  1875, 
1876, 1877  and  1878,  the  real  estate  valuation  of 
the  city  increased  very  slowly,  and  in  no  year 
as  much  as  one  per  cent.  In  1879  the  effect  of 
the  elevated  railways  appears  in  an  increase  in 
real  estate  valuation  of  1.9  per  cent.  The  in- 
crease the  next  year  was  2.6  per  cent ;  in  1882 
it  rose  to  5.9  per  cent.,  and  last  year  amounted 
to  3.7  per  cent.  As  from  1875  to  1879  there 
was  no  year  in  which  the  increase  in  real  estate 
valuation  reached  1  per  cent. ,  so  there  has  been 
no  year  since  1879  in  which  the  increase  has 
been  as  low  as  2.5  per  cent. 

A  still  more  striking  exhibition  is  presented 
in  the  statistics  for  the  four  years,  1876  to  1879 
inclusive,  when  the  rapid  transit  system  was  in 
its  infancy,  as  compared  with  the  statistics  for 
the  four  years  1881  to  1884  inclusive,  when  the 


system  was  in  full  operation,  as  follows  : 

Valuation.  Ineroane.        *er  el. 

1876 .$892,428, 165 

1879 918,134,380  $25,706,215       2.8 

1881 976,735,199 

1884 1,119,761,597  143,026,398     14.0 


New  York  Daily  News,  May  17,  1885. 

The  Broadway  Arcade  Scheme. 

It  is  a  grand  scheme,  a  magnificent  one,  that, 
if  carried  out,  would  no  doubt  contribute  vast- 
ly to  the  embellishment  of  the  great  Metropol- 
itan thoroughfare,  and  insure  tin  most  com- 
plete  solution  of  the  problem  of  satisfactory 
and  sufficient  rapid  transit. 


New  York  Daily  Graphic,  March  25,  1884. 

Arcade  Railroad  l'roject. 
As  between  the  Arcade  and  the  tunnel  road 
(which  the  Broadway  Underground  Railroad 
Company  has  a  right  to  build)  public  senti- 
ment seems  to  be  crystalized  permanently  in 
favor  of  the  Arcade  Plan,  as  proposed  to  be  car- 
ried out.         ****** 


Harlem  Evening  Times,  May  17,  1883. 

We  publish  elsewhere  an  interesting  inter- 
view with  Mr.  McEnroe,  of  Manhattanville,  on 
the  much  talked  of  New  York  Arcade  Railroad, 
between  the  Battery  and  Harlem  River.  An 
underground  railroad  is  the  true  solution  of 
the  rapid  transit  problem,  and  while  the  cost 
will  be  great  at  the  outset,  it  will  endure  as 
long  as  time  lasts.  An  underground  railroad 
affords  facilities  for  a  higher  rate  of  speed  than 
can  be  safely  attained  on  the  elevated  struc- 
ture now  in  use,  and  if  for  no  other  reason  the 
underground  road  should  be  constructed  at  an 
early  day.  This  end  of  the  city  is  vitally  in- 
terested in  rapid  transit,  and  if  a  plan  can  be 
devised  whereby  passengers  can  be  safely 
transferred  from  the  City  Hall  to  Harlem  River 
inside  of  twenty  minutes,  it  is  the  project  of  all 
others  for  the  people  to  encourage.  Even- 
tually the  underground  road  will  be  built,  but 
measures  should  be  adopted  to  facilitate  an 
early  start  and  speedy  completion. 


Brooklyn  Eagle,  March  28,  1883. 

The  Underground  Broadway  Arcade. 

There  is   no  doubt  that  from  the  peculiar 
formation  of  Manhattan  Island  unusual  facili- 


6 


THE  VOICE  OT  THE  PEESS. 


ties  for  rapid  transit  must  be  provided  if  the 
city  is  to  expand  in  the  only  direction  left  for 
growth.  The  elevated  railroads  have  supplied 
this  need  in  a  measure,  but  the  solution  of- 
fered by  them  is  yet  far  from  perfect,  and  it  is 
very  questionable  whether  another  longitudi- 
nal thoroughfare  can  be  partially  sacrificed  to 
the  elevated  system  of  transportation.  No 
street  is  so  well  designed  for  travel  as  Broad- 
way, which  is,  and  must  continue  to  be,  the 
main  artery  of  New  York  City. 

So  valuable,  so  essential,  indeed,  is  this 
street,  that  its  surface  cannot,  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, be  incumbered,  and  not  even  the 
most  brazen  speculator  in  public  privileges 
has  ventured  a  suggestion  of  interference  with 
it.  Nevertheless,  any  means  that  could  utilize 
its  direction  without  interference  for  purposes 
of  conveyance,  and  would  add  to  existing  facil- 
ities   for  travel,    is   worthy    of  consideration. 

The  project  of  tunneling  it  at  a  secure  depth 
which  would  not  imperil  the  stability  of  the 
roadway  or  the  foundations  of  buildings,  which 
was  first  agitated  some  fifteen  years  ago, 
seemed  to  be  feasible.  Indeed,  the  experience 
of  the  Metropolitan  Railroad  in  London  has 
encouraged  the  idea,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  a  line  of  railroad  would  be  profitable,  al- 
though the  initial  expense  would  be  great, 

The  bill  before  the  committee  modifies  the 
charter  of  the  Broadway  Underground  Rail- 
road Company  by  making  provisions  even 
nion  satisfactory  to  the  public  at  large  than 
the  original  proposition.  In  place  of  a  bare 
tin, i, 1 1  like  that  of  the  London  Metropolitan, 
the  company  proposes  to  build  an  Arcade.  In 
other  words,  the  new  design  covers  the  scheme 
of  building  a  second  Broadway  underneath  the 
existing  street,  with  sidewalks,  stores  on  either 
side,  and  such  features  of  a  street  as  are  con- 
sistent with  the  subterranean  conditions. 
There  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  such  a  pro- 
gramme should  not  be  carried  out.  By  turn- 
ing the  cellars  of  the  buildings  now  fronting 
on  Broadway  into  underground  main  floors,  an 
enormous  addition  will  of  necessity  be  made  to 
the  value  of  the  property.  With  modern  ap- 
pliances for  the  consumption  of  gases  from 
steam  engines  ;  with  the.  prospect  indeed  of  a 
substitution  of  noiseless,  smokeless  and  i,rasless 
electric  motors  ;  witli  the  electric  light  for  illu- 
minating purposes,  the  conditions  of  ventila- 
tion could  scarcely  be  more  favorable. 

Advocates  of  the  bill  moreover  point  out 
the  advantages  that  the  city  would  gain  by  the 
construction  of  this  Arcade.  The  telegraph 
wires  could,   so    far  as    the  longitudinal  hues 


run,  pass  through  the  Arcade,  where  they 
would  be  protected  from  accident  and  be  re- 
moved from  interference  with  the  fire  •  appara- 
tus. Property  word  1  be  improved  by  the  ban- 
ishment of  the  poles.  The  gas,  water  anil  steam 
pipes,  whose  repair  is  a  source  of  constant 
danger  and  annoyance  to  the  public,  could  be 
laid  in  the  Arcade,  where  they  would  be  read- 
ily accessible,  and  even  in  this  minor  particular 
the  benefit  to  the  city  would  be  very  great. 


Record  and  Guide,  April  28,  1883. 

The  Broadway  Arcade  Project. 

We.  devote  considerable  space  in  this  issue 
to  a  description  of  the  Broadway  Arcadt  pro- 
ject, which  is  now  exciting  so  much  attention 
among  owners  of  realty  in  this  city.  When 
carried  out  it  will  make  Broadway  the  most 
valuable  street  in  the  world.  Not  only  will 
the  present  values  be  retained,  but  an  addi- 
tional street  will  be  created,  the  traffic  of  which 
would  inure  to  the  benefit  of  those  who  hold 
the  fee  simple  along  the  line  of  our  great  thor- 
oughfare. The  underground  street  would,  in- 
deed, eventually  be  more  valuable  of  the  two, 
for  it  could  be  used  as  a  road-bed  for  2)assen- 
ger  and  freight  cars  propelled  by  the  new  mo- 
ters,  which  are  just  beginning  to  be  used  in 
large  cities.  Underground  Broadway  in  mid 
tin a  in  connected  with  tin  in/in  railway  sys- 
tem ii/f/ii  country.  Passengers  from  any  city 
in  the  Union  would  purchase  their  tickets  di- 
rect for  tin1  great  hotels  situated  in  that  splen- 
did thoroughfare.  The  cab  nuisance  would  be 
abolished,  and  the  heavy  tax  imposed  for  con- 
veying the  passenger  from  the  depot  to  the 
hotel  would  be  saved,  as  he  would  be  landed, 
with  his  personal  baggage,  at  the  very  door  of 
his  hostelry.  The/r<  ight  cars,  also,  could  be 
run  into  the  side  streets,  so  as  to  discharge 
their  contents  into  the  warehouses  of  the  mer- 
chants. The  plan  also  contemplates  complete 
provision  for  sewers,  gas-pipes,  water-mains, 
and  the  various  underground  pipes  for  steam- 
heating,  telegraph  wires,  and  pneumatic  tubes, 
which  are  now  a  source  of  much  embarrass- 
ment and  even  danger.  The  scheme  is  really 
magnificent,  and  that  it  is  practicable  is  attest- 
ed by  the  foremost  engineers  of  the  country. 
Ex-Secretary  [of  the  Treasury  Windom  is  now 
associated  with  this  enterprise,  which  was  first 
suggested  by  Hon.  Melville  C.  Smith.  This 
should  not  be  confounded  with  the  tunnel 
scheme,  which  would  have  been  no  benefit  to 
Broadway  property.  If  this  Arcade  is  ever 
constructed,  it  will   justly  be  regarded  as  one 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


of  the  greatest  engineering  feats  of  the  age, 

while  its  practical    value    to   New  York  realty, 
especially  on  the  line  of  Broadway,  is  simply 

incalculable. 


Harper's  Weekly,  March  29,  1884. 

The  Arcade  Railway. 

********* 

A  sub-surface  road  is  the  only  one  which 
will  permit  sufficient  speed  of  movement  to  be 
really  a  rapid-transit  road.  Under  these  points 
of  view  the  Arcade  Railway,  the  general  de- 
sign of  which  may  be  seen  in  the  illustration 
presented  on  this  page,  seems  to  offer  great  ad- 
vantages. It  is  proposed  to  add  a  story  to 
Broadway,  not  above,  but  below  the  present 
surface  of  the  street.  The  general  plans  seem 
to  have  been  studied  with  great  care,  and  are 
designed  to  provide  not  only  through  trains 
running  at  high  speed,  but  slower  trains  on 
separate  tracks  for  local  accommodation  and 
freight.  Provision  is  also  made  for  sewers, 
gas  and  water  mains  in  side  channels,  and 
also  for  well-lighted  subway  sidewalks.  The 
present  street  surface  and  sidewalks  are  retain- 
ed at  their  present  grades,  but  are  to  be  re- 
built as  the  work  progresses,  in  an  improved 
manner,  and  will  form  a  covering  for  the  sub- 
ways underneath.  In  an  engineering  point  of 
view  the  work  seems  to  present  no  extraordi- 
nary difficulties. 

The  progress  of  engineering  science  has  been 
such  during  the  last  few  years,  that  with  a  liberal 
use  of  iron  and  improved  facilities  for  quar- 
rying, blasting,  and  bridging,  undertakings 
which  a  few  years  ago  would  have  appeared 
impracticable,  now  come  within  the  scope  of 
the  most  ordinary  engineering  practice. 

Broadway  is  not  only  the  apparent  but  the 
real  main  artery  of  the  city,  and  yet  its  nar- 
row width  is  of  itself  sufficient  to  discourage 
any  attempt  to  place  along  its  course  an  eleva- 
ted road  or  surface  tracks.  It  is  thus  to  a  great 
extent  left  without  the  facilities  of  local  com- 
munication which  are  enjoyed  by  other  and 
less  important  streets;  and  it  is  in  fact  so  far 
removed  from  the  main  lines  of  through  transit 
on  each  side,  that  this  famous  street  is  un- 
doubtedly losing  its  prestige.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  Arcade  subway,  with  its  four  lines 
of  railroad  and  its  sidewalk,  would  not  only 
render  more  valuable  the  basement  stories 
of  all  the  buildings  along  Broadway,  but 
would,  in  the  opinion   of  the   engineers  who 


have  examined  the  plans,  practically  add  a 
Btory  to  these  buildings,  sinoe  vaults  ami  sub- 
basement  rooms  could  he  placed  at  still  lower 
levels.  According  to  these  plans  Broadway  is 
practically  made  a  street  of  two  stories,  the  up- 
per for  carriages  and  pedestrians,  ami  the  lower 
being  devoted  principally  to  railways.  The 
methods  and  processes  of  construction  have 
evidently  been  studied  with  a  viewtothe  least 
possible  interruption  Of  the  ordinary  traffic  of 
the  streets.  It  would  be  fatal  to  such  an  en- 
terprise to  propose  a  mode  of  construction 
which  would  require  any  portion  of  the  streets 
to  be  closed  during  the  process  of  the  excava- 
tion and  the  erection  of  the  iron  columns  and 
girders  on  which  the  upper  street  is  to  rest. 
The  designers  have  overcome  this  first  and 
most  serious  obstacle  at  the  outset  by  an  ingen- 
ious method  of  proceeding,  which  constitutes 
one  of  the  strongest  guarantees  of  success. 
This  consists  in  constructing,  in  advance 
of  the  work,  as  the  excavations  and  other 
sub-surface  works  proceed,  a  false  street  500 
or  1000  feet  iu  length,  its  grade  being  only  four 
feet  above  the  present  grade,  and  its  parts  be- 
ing portable,  so  that  it  can  be  pieced  out  or 
lengthened  at  the  advancing  end,  and  shorten- 
ed at  the  following  end  as  the  arcade  is  fin- 
ished underneath. 

This  plan  permits  of  all  excavations  and 
other  work  for  the  lower  story  of  the  street  to 
be  conducted  under  cover  of  these  bridges, 
while  the  latter  form  a  temporary  street,  for  a 
short  distance,  only  a  few  feet  above  the  pres- 
ent level,  with  easy  approaches  for  the  tempo- 
rary passage  of  vehicles.  All  the  material  ex- 
cavated, and  the  material  required  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  sub-surface  roadway,  is  to  be 
transported  through  the  subway  itself  as  it  ad- 
vances, thus  avoiding  serious  obstruction  of 
whatever  kind  in  the  street  above. 

It  is  stated  in  the  report  of  the  engineers 
that  all  the  buildings  built  within  the  last 
twenty  years  have  their  foundations  below 
the  lowest  excavations  required.  In  case  it 
should  be  found  necessary,  however,  to  extend 
such  foundations  downward,  there  is  abundant 
experience  to  show  that  this  can  be  done  with- 
out difficulty. 

Taken  in  all  its  features,  this  project,  in  its 
engineering  aspects  and  its  apparent  ad- 
vantages  for  rapid  transit,  combined  with 
Incni  and  freighting  facilities,  is  the  only 
om  which  se  ms  to  meet  the  pressing  needs 
of  the  present  and  th<  utmost  positive  de- 
mands of  the  Jiitnn  . 


8 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


Real  Estate  Chronicle,  May  7,  1884. 

Intramural  Transit — The  Arcade  Railway. 

The  Arcade  road  would  make  Broadway  a 
double  street.  None  of  the  business  or  travel 
would  be  taken  from  the  present  surface  of 
that  great  avenue,  while  a  subterranean  thor- 
oughfare would  be  created  that  would  be  a  sui 
generis,  for  it  would  not  only  be  a  street  suit- 
able for  traffic  and  travel,  but  it  would  be  a 
great  through  and  local  railway,  having  con- 
nections with  the  entire  railway  system  of  the 
country.  Tfu  schemt  is  magnificent,  and  is  as 
practical  as  it  is  novel  and  alluring.  An  un- 
derground road  of  this  kind  should  not  be  con- 
founded with  the  dark  though  useful  tunnel 
whicli  runs  under  the  houses  of  London.  That 
is  a  wonderful  work  in  its  way,  but  it  makes  very 
dismal  travt  ling,  and  there  are  no  accommoda- 
tions in  the  tunnel  for  general  business.  But 
the  Arcade  scheme  is  a  very  different  affair,  for 
it  involves  the  creation  of  a  new  street  far  su- 
perior in  every  respect  to  the  Broadway  that 
now  is.  It  would  extend  to  the  houses  on 
either  side  of  the  way.  It  would  be  well  light- 
ed day  and  night,  and  protected  against  the  ex- 
tremes of  temperature  in  winter  and  summer, 
while  the  foot  travelers  will  be  shielded  from 
rains  and  snow  storms.  It  would  naturally 
attract  the  shopping  travel  on  the  basement 
floor.  In  addition  to  the  swift  steam  railway 
accommodations  this  underground  thorough- 
fare would  give,  it  would  furnish  ample  room 
and  verge  enough  for  water  mains,  gas  and 
steam  pipes,  electric  and  telephone  wires  and 
pneumatic  tubes.  It  will  in  short  solve  most 
of  the  problems  of  subterranean  New  York. 


The  N.  Y.  Sunday  Mercury,  Feb.  24,  1884. 

Arcade  or  Tunnel   Roads. 

Bills  empowering  the  Broadway  Under- 
ground Rwilway  Company  to  change  their 
plan  from  a  tunnel  road  to  an  Arcadt  were  in- 
troduced in  the  Assembly  and  Senate  last  week. 
As  the  matter  stands  the  company  have  a 
chart<  rid  right  to  build  a  tunnel  road  through 
Broadway  whenever  they  see  tit,  and  the  ques- 
tion for  the  Legislature  to  decide  is  whether 
they  shall  be  confined  to  a  two  track  ' '  hole  in 
the  ground,"  or  shall  be  authorized  to  lay  out 
a  new  street  from  the  Battery  to  Harlem  River, 
with  ample  light  and  ventilation,  and  with  four 
tracks  for  express  and  local  trains.  During 
the  past  Summer  the  officers  and  engineers  of 
the  company  visited  England  and  made  a  spe- 
cial study  of    the   underground   road   which 


sweeps  in  a  circle  beneath  London.  They 
found  that  it  passed  directly  under  some  of  the 
heaviest  buildings  in  that  great  city  and  close 
to  the  foundations  of  others,  and  that  in  no 
case  had  there  been  any  disturbance  on  the  sur- 
face. This  removes  the  objection  of  those  who 
feared  that  the  digging  out  of  a  new  street  un- 
der Broadway  might  disturb  the  foundations 
of  some  of  the  great  buildings  that  line  its 
lower  end.  Inasmuch  as  London  has  dug  its 
tunnel  close  to  and  beneath  the  foundation  of 
buildings  as  massive  as  Trinity  church,  that 
question  may  be  regarded  as  settled;  and  in 
view  of  the  obstructive  and  temporary  charac- 
ter of  the  elevated  railway  structures  that  dis- 
figure our  city,  it  will  be  fortunate  for  our  cit- 
izens if  the  Legislature  can  see  its  way  to  giv- 
ing our  citizens  real  rapid  transit  with  all  its 
disfiguring  features  hidden  in  an  underground 
Arcade. 


New  York  Citizen,  March  14,  1885. 

After  the  surface,  elevated,  and  cable  rail- 
way companies  get  through,  we  predict  that 
the  old  "Arcade  "  is  destined  to  be  the  only 
plan  to  solve  the  rapid  transit  question^ through 
the  heart  of  the  city. 


New  York  Sunday  Courier,  May  27,  1883. 

Broadway  Arcade  Railway. 

New  York  has  just  had  its  day  of  rejoicing 
over  the  completion  of  a  great  enterprise,  a 
solid  bridgeway  to  its  sister  city,  Brooklyn.  In 
this  age  of  magnificent  enterprises  and  won- 
derful progress  it  seems  fitting  that  the  boom 
of  cannon  and  the  glad  sound  of  rejoicing  over 
a  work  completed  should  also  proclaim  the  be- 
ginning of  an  undertaking  equally  as  grand 
and  imposing,  and  calculated  to  confer  even 
greater  benefits  upon  our  metropolis.  The  Ar- 
t-urfi  Rail  wag — a  representation  and  descrip- 
tion of  which  we  herewith  present  to  our  rea- 
ders— may  well  claim  to  rank  as  one  of  the 
grandest  enterprises  of  the  present  day.  With 
the  aid  of  the  picture  and  the  explanations 
given,  our  readers  will  readily  comprehend 
this  great  undertaking  and  the  priceless  boon 
it  will  be  to  this  overcrowded  city.       *       * 

The  Observer,  N.  ¥.,  March  13,  1884. 

Proposal  to  Duplicate  Broadway. 

The  Broadway  Underground  Railroad  Com- 
pany proposes  to  substitute  for  the  tunnel  road 
under  Broadway,  this  city,  which  they  claim  the 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


Legislature  of  1881  gave  them  the  right  to 
build,  a  wide  Aroade.     While  the  tunnel  road 

would  serve  the  business  interests  at  the  lower 

eud  of  the  island  ami  the  residences  at  the  up- 
per extreme,  the  company  claims  that  the  Ar- 
cade railway  would  duplicate  Broadway  with  a 
sub-surface  street  well  lighted  and  ventilated  ; 
would  change  the  dark  cellars  into  basement 
stores,  fronting  on  pleasant  sidewalks,  would 
provide  vaults,  ample  and  accessible  for  pipes 
and  wires,  thus  avoiding  the  necessity  of  tear- 
ing up  the  street  ;  would  have  four  tracks- 
two  for  way  and  two  for  through  travel — while 
during  the  night  two  of  these  tracks  could  be 
devoted  exclusively  to  freight  and  express, 
which  could  be  conveniently  distributed  any- 
where along  the  route.  Such  a  plan,  it  is 
claimed,  wouldincrease  the  value  of  all  Broad- 
way property. 


New  York  Uptown  Visitor,  April  26,  1884. 

ltapid  Transit. 

Id  our  last  issue  we  pointed  out  the  neces- 
sity for  quicker  and  cheaper  "rapid  transit" 
on  the  west  side.  No  one  denies  that  the  need 
exists,  and  is  being  more  urgently  felt  every 
day.  The  only  question  then,  which  remains, 
is  how  best  to  meet  this  want.  The  tenement- 
house  district*  iii  tin  lower  part  of  the  city  are 
frightfully  overcrowded.  Physicians,  scien- 
tists, and  philanthropists  have  protested  in 
vain.  The  workman  must  live  near  the  scene 
of  his  daily  labors,  and  the  busy  merchant 
must  have  easy  and  quick  access  to  his  place 
of  business.  The  upper  portion  of  the  city  on 
the  west  side,  from  Fifty-ninth  street  to  Kings- 
bridge,  affords  beautiful  and  healthful  locations 
for  homes  for  all  the  busy  toilers  of  the  city. 
Until  within  recent  years,  however,  this  sec- 
tion has  been  almost  entirely  neglected,  be- 
cause of  its  inaccessibility  and  the  length  of 
time  necessary  to  make  the  journey.  The 
elevated  railway  has  partially  helped  to  solve 
this  important  problem.  But  so  great  has 
been  the  influx  of  new  residents,  that  the  re- 
sources of  the  elevated  roads  have  been  sorely 
taxed,  and  in  many  instances  fail  to  afford 
proper  accommodation  to  the  traveling  public. 
Then,  too,  we  have  not  as  yet  experienced 
what  real  "rapid  transit"  is.  The  running 
time  from  South  Ferry  to  155th  street  is  about 
fifty-five  mimites.  We  should  have  some 
means  of  conveyance  by  which  this  time  can 
be  reduced  to  twenty  minutes.  This  can  be 
accomplished,  as  we  fully  believe,  by  the 
Broadway  Underground  or  Arcade  railway. 


We  are  pleased  t<>  observe  that  our  repre- 
sentatives in  Albany  are  exerting  their  best 
efforts  to  Secure  the  proper    legislation    need.,! 

for  tiie  consummation  <>t'  what  must  eventually 

prove  to  be  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  bene- 
ficent schemes  ever  devised  in  the  interests  of 
this  city. 

Our  Day,  N.  Y.,  July,  1S83. 

The    Arcade    Railway. 

Occasionally  there  rises  from  among  great 
enterprises  an  undertaking  so  prominently 
connected  with  the  progress  of  the  age  that  it 
becomes  an  object  of  universal  interest.  The 
stupendous  project  of  the  Broadway  Under- 
ground Railroad  Company  will  take  rank  with 
the  construction  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  Croton 
Aqueduct  in  America,  and  the  tunneling  of 
the  Alps  in  Europe.  If  the  scheme  of  build- 
ing the  Arcade  Railway  is  carried  to  successful 
completion,  it  will  add  another  to  the  wonders 
of  the  world. 


The  Hudson  River  Tunnel  should  play  a 
prominent  part  in  the  system  of  underground 
railroads  in  New  York.  Connected  with  the 
Arcade  Railway  it  would  be  the  desired  bnk 
between  the  great  lines  leading  North  and 
East  from  the  Island  and  those  leading  South 
and  West  from  Jersey  City.  The  objectiona- 
ble feature  of  reaching  the  Metropolis  from 
the  latter  by  ferry  would  be  avoided,  and  pas- 
sengers and  freight  could  be  discharged  at  any 
point  in  the  City,  without  change  of  cars.  The 
two  Companies  should  consider  mutual  inter- 
ests, and  pull  together  with  hearty  determina- 
tion. 


The  Commercial  World,  March  9,  1883. 

A    Grand    Project! 

********* 

The  only  hope  for  the  future  prosperity  of 
the  city's  commerce  and  communication  lies, 
therefore,  in  the  establishment  of  underground 
rapid  transit. 

The  problem,  how  best  to  accomplish  this 
result,  has  occupied  the  attention  of  some  of 
the  great ist  engineers  in  the  country,  but  the 
plans  proposed  by  the  Broadway  Arcade 
Railway  Company  are  the  only  ones  that  have 
met  their  views. 

The  plans  have  been  admirably  arranged  so 
as  to  enable  the  Company  to  carry  on  work 
with  the  least  possible  interference  with  the 
traffic  of  the  streets. 


10 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


The  advantages  that  will  accrue  to  individual 
property  owners  and  merchants  along  the  road, 
the  city  and  the  public,  are  incalculable. 


Mechanical  Xews,  New  York,  May  15,  1883. 

The    Iiroadway    Arcade    Railway. 

Within  the  memory  of  men  now  living  New- 
York  was  a  village.  To-day  it  is  to  all  intents 
and  purposes,  as  we  demonstrated  not  long 
ago,  the  second  city  in  the  world.  What  it  will 
be  fifty  years  hence,  or  a  hundred  years  hence, 
with  the  power  of  growth  inherent  in  itself  and 
the  vast  country  of  which  it  will  always  be  the 
metropolis,  statisticians  have  tried  to  predict, 
but  even  their  cold  arithmetic  seems  like  a 
wild  flight  of  fancy.  But  whether  its  future 
be  calculated  or  merely  conjectured,  enough  is 
manifest  to  the  most  superficial  observer  to 
convince  him  that  some  adequate  provision 
must  speedily  be  made  for  the  travel  and  traf- 
fic which  How  through  this  narrow  island. 

If  New  York  is  destined  to  become  the  largest 
city  on  the  globe,  as  seems  highly  probable,  it 
is  also  called  upon  to  overcome  Mich  difficulties 
of  situation  as  no  other  city  has  encountered. 
These  nil  grow  out  of  tfu  inconvt  nu  ni  shapi 
of  Manhattan  Island,  a  strip  of  land  thirteen 
and  one-half  miles  Long,  with  an  average 
breadth  of  <>nlv  one-and-three-fifthB  miles. 
Through  this  channel  is  poured  the  enormous 
foreign  and  domestic  trade  which  has  made 
New  York  what  it  is  ;  and  an  ever-increasing 
tide  of  humanity,  drawn  hither  in  pursuit  of 
gain  or  pleasure,  flows  through  itB streets.  The 
elevated  roads  alone  carry  nearly  one  hundred 
million  passengers  up  and  down  its  avenues  in 
a  single  year.    Add  to  these  the  vast  multitude 

of  street-ear  and  stage  passengers  and  the  end- 
less throng  of  pedestrians,  and  consider  that 
the  city  is  held  to  be  yet  iii  its  infancy,  and  the 
problem  how  to  niaki  room  for  the  play  of  its 
activities  when  it  shall  have  reached  its  mature 
development  becomes  a  serious  one,  nor  to  be 
trifled  with  or  put  aside. 

With  the  greatness  of  New  York,  the  great- 
ness of  Broadway  as  its  chief  thoroughfare 
keeps  even  pace.  Already  it  may  be  truthfully 
said  that  no  other  street  in  the  world  compares 
with  it  in  length  and  amount  of  traffic.  The 
pre-eminence  it  has  thus  gained  will  not  be  al- 
lowed to  pass  from  it,  or  to  be  shared  with 
other  parallel  streets.  Nature  and  loner  usage 
together  have  made  it  the  main  arten  of  the 
trade  of  New  York,  and  a  feeling  of  just  pride, 
as  well  as  purely  selfish  motives  on  the  part  of 


those  who  occupy  its  frontages,  will  always 
operate  to  keep  its  position  unquestioned. 
There  was  no  opposition  on  this  ground,  so  far 
as  we  recollect,  to  the  construction  of  the  ele- 
vated roads  ;  and  there  was  certainly  no  occa- 
sion for  any.  The  only  benefit  derived  from 
those  roads  by  the  avenues  in  which  they  were 
built,  was  at  the  points  where  stations  were 
erected  ;  and  even  had  it  been  generally  dis- 
tributed along  the  line  of  the  road,  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  Broadway  had  nothing  to  fear  from 
the  rivalry  of  a  street  bestridden,  darkened  and 
disfigured  through  its  whole  length  by  an  un- 
sightly iron  bridge. 

This  leads  to  the  question,  what  part  the 
elevated  roads  are  destined  to  play  in  the  de- 
velopment of  New  York.  We  have  spoken  of 
them  as  a  bridge  ;  and  they  are  such  in  more 
senses  than  one.  They  serve  an  admirable 
purpose  in  bridging  over  the  interval  between 
the  old  and  insufficient  means  of  travel  by 
horse-cars  and  omnibuses,  and  the  permanent 
system  of  the  near  future,  by  which  the  largest 
convenience  shall  be  afforded,  and  the  least  in- 
jury be  done — en-  none  at  all — to  the  vested  in- 
terests and  the  external  appearance  of  the  city. 
There  need  be  no  disparagement  of  the  ele- 
vated roads.  For  the  time  being  they  are 
simply  indispensihle  ;  and,  considering  the 
enormous  extent  of  their  traffic,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  they  are  skillfully  and  carefully 
managed.  But  we  venture  to  predict  that  in 
the  New  York  of  the  year  1900  they  will  not  be 
known.  They  will  have  been  superseded  by  a 
system  which  combines  absolute  safety,  per- 
manency and  convenience,  and  neither  dis- 
figures the  city  nor  diminishes  the  rental  of 
any  property  on  its  streets. 

No  enterprise  of  this  character,  however 
conducive  to  the  public  advantage,  has  failed 
to  encounter  stubborn  opposition.  But  thia 
i  nli  r/>ris,  has  not  only  been  highly  commended 
by  engineers,  but,  considering  its  magnitude, 

has    been    received    with    marked  favor  by  the 

press  and  the  general  public.  The  demand  is 
org  id  and  must  be  met  ;  and  the  difficulties 
to  be  overcome  increase  with  every  year  of 
postponement.  /'  seems  demonstrated  Umt 
tin  Arcade  plan  presents  the  most  feasible, 
complete  and  unobjectionable  plan  of  relief. 


The  Court  Journal,  Jan.  7,  1884. 

More   Itapiil  Transit  Needed. 

We  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
greatest  boon  that  can  be  conferred  on  the  live 
business  people — and  in  fact  upon  the  City  of 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


11 


New  York — is  (tic  construction  at  once  of  the 
Arcade  railroad  under  Broadway,  from  1 1 1« - 
Battery  to  Harlem  River  a  scheme  so  simple, 
so  clearly  practicable,  so  beneficial  in  every  re- 
quirement necessary  to  the  ends  to  be  attained 

— namely,  speed,  safety  and  oomfort — that  we 
feel  constrained  to  say  :  "  Why  was  it  uot  built 
long  ago?"  We  have  determined,  after  inves- 
tigating somewhat  the  plans,  to  lend  out- 
voice to  this  grand  scheme,  and  hope  to  see  all 

who  have  the  power  to  aid   this  plan  interest 

themselves  in  the  matter,  feeling  sure  they  will 

hereafter  feel  proud  of  having  aided  to  build 
an  Arcade  in  the  city  of  New  York,  which  will 
be  one  of  the  handsomest  wonders  of  the 
world  and  one  of  the  greatest  comforts  of  New- 
Yorkers. 


House  and  Heme,  New  York,  Oct.  15,  1883. 

A    Stupendous    Enterprise. 

Two  years  ago  we  published  a  sketch  pur- 
porting to  be  the  dream  of  a  New  York  mer- 
chant, wherein  he  foretold  the  time  when  there 
would  be  an  underground  New  York  as  well  as 
the  one  we  are  so  well  acquainted  with.  That 
dream  bids  fair  to  be  realized. 

Hon.  Melville  C.  Smith,  a  worthy  citizen,  has 
projected  a  scheme  whereby  we  can  have  an 
underground  railway  and  underground  stores, 
without  the  inconveniences,  bad  ventilation 
and  noisome  smells  of  the  English  Under- 
ground Railway  system.  As  New  York  is  des- 
tined to  become  the  metropolis  of  the  world,  we 
hope  Mr.  Smith's  system  will  be  a  success.  The 
Arcade  running  the  whole  length  of  the  island, 
and  on  both  sides,  would  be  a  part  of  a  complete 
system,  and  having  four  tracks  would  afford 
abundant  accommodation  to  through  travel, 
way  travel,  freight  and  <  xpresa.  It  would  not 
be  a  detriment  to  the  water,  gas,  and  other 
systems  of  pipes,  but  provides  a  sub-way 
where  they  would  be  perfectly  accessible. 

No  other  city  in  the  world  so  needs  an  express 
railroad  throughout  its  entire  length,  for  there 
is  no  other  city  that  is  so  long  and  narrow,  con- 
fiued  by  wide  rivers,  with  the  business  houses 
at  one  end  and  the  residences  so  far  away  at  the 
other,  receding  in  a  direct  line  further  and 
further  every  year. 


Merchants'  &  Manufacturers'  Review, 
May  23,  1885. 

The    Arcade    Kailroad.— Hright    I'rospects   of  its 
Speedy    Completion. 

If  "nothing  succeeds  like  success"  be  an  un- 
derstandable  expression,   and   means  what  is 


generally  understood  by  it,  then  .Mr.  Melville 
C.  Smith,  the  President  of  the  Arcade  Railway 

Co.,  and  his  associates,  arc  to  be  warmly  con- 
gratulated on  the  passage  of  a  bill  by  the  re- 
cent Legislature  of  this  State  authorizing  the 
construction  of  an  underground  railroad  from 
the  Battery  to  the  upper  portion  of  the  city. 

The  rapid  and  continuous  growth  of  the  city 
requires  any  additional  means  of  rapid  transit 
that  can  be  put  into  operation  in  order  the 
better  to  unite  the  distant  parts  more  closely 
together  and  to  develop  its  many  natural  and 
acquired  advantages.  In  our  opinion  the 
.  1  muli  Railway  <  '</.  presents  the  most  effective 
and  plausible  scheme  yet  devised  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  one  against  which  fewer  valid  ob- 
jections can  be  raised  than  any  now  in  actual 
operation. 


New  York  Record  and  Trade  Reporter,  March 
17,  1884. 
The  Broadway  Arcade  Railway. 

The  inadequacy  of  the  elevated  railroads  for 
furnishing  facilities  and  conveniences  propor- 
tionate to  the  ever-increasing  necessities  of  the 
commercial  and  private  interests  of  the  metrop- 
olis has  been  so  fully  demonstrated  that  New 
Yorkers  have  long  since  ceased  to  look  upon 
them  with  that  strong  degree  of  pride  which 
manifested  itself  upon  the  inauguration  of  that 
system  of  "  rapid  transit."  To  meet  the  pres- 
ent and  future  needs  of  this  progressive  age,  a 
work  is  now  being  pushed  forward  which  in 
magnitude,  grandeur  of  conception  and  im- 
portance outstrips  the  elevated  railroad 
scheme,  and  vies  with  that  of  the  Brooklyn 
Bridge  itself.  Indeed,  in  some  respects,  its 
importance  far  exceeds  that  of  the  great  high- 
way wedding  the  two  great  cities;  for,  as  we 
will  show  further  on,  the  benefits  conferred  by 
the  proposed  underground  railway  will  be  not 
local  hut  national  in  their  character,  facilitating 
the  mighty  workings  of  the  world's  commerce. 

As  regards  the  advantages  offered  to  our  local 
traffic  by  the  Arcade  road,  theyjire  so  imme- 
diate and  palpable  that  their  very  mention 
would  seem  superfluous.  The  relief  of  Broad- 
way alone,  outside  of  broader  considerations, 
would  justify  New  Yorkers  to  give  their  hearty 
and  unqualified  support  to  this  gigantic  under- 
taking.        ******* 


New  York  Scientific  Times,  May  9,  1883. 

A  Stupendous  Undertaking. 

In  another   column  will   be  found  a  full  ac- 
count of  the   great  enterprise   that  has  been 


12 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


projected  by  Mr.  Melville  C.  Smith,  to  be  car- 
ried out  by  the  Broadway  Underground  Rail- 
road Company.  It  is  a  work  that  will  take 
rank  with  the  tunneling  of  the  Alps  and  similar 
stupendous  undertakings  in  which  the  human 
race  have  engaged  at  one  period  or  another 
of  the  his toiy  of  the  world.  Europe  has  un- 
derground railways,  but  they  will  be  dwarfed 
into  insignificance  by  that  of  New  York.  The 
project  has  only  been  brought  to  its  present 
condition  offorwardm  •■>■■■>■  aftt  r  yi  ars  of  inct  s- 
sent public  and  privatt  toil,  mid  afU  r  <  ncoun- 
tering  untold  opposition  from  all  sorts  of  inter- 
ests, legitimate  and  illegitimate.  An  ordinary 
man  would  long  ago  have  retired,  beaten  and 
dismayed.  When  this  mighty  work  is  com- 
pleted he  will  be  looked  up  to  as  one  of  the 
benefactors,  not  merely  of  the  Empire  City 
but  of  the  American  people.         *         *         * 


Empire  State  Workman,  Jan.  31,  1884. 

Broadway  Arcade  Railway. 

•  **••**•* 

During  the  past  summer  a  number  of  the 
officers  and  engine*  re  of  the  Broadway  Under- 
ground Railway  Company  spent  several  months 
in  examining  the  underground  railways  and 
structures  of  London  and  Paris,  with  a  view 
to  the  comparativi  advantages  of  an  Arcade 
or  iiniiK  I  railway  for  New  York.  The 
results  were  every  way  satisfactory,  and 
the  important  facts  collected  have  just 
been  embodied  in  a  very  interesting  report  by 
Gen.  W.  J.  McAlpine,  and  should  be  procured 
and  read  by  every  property  owner  on  Broadway, 
ami  every  person  interested  in  trade  and  travel 
in  New  York. 

As  shown  in  the  sketch,  the  pltn  of  the 
arcade  railroad  is  simply  to  make  a  double 
Broadway. 

The  A  rcade  will  provide  complete  accommo- 
dation  for  through  and  way  transit  of  passen- 
gers and  freight  between  the  extreme  limits  of 
the  island,  and  along  its  main  artery. 


Xew  York  American  Progress,  May  5,  1883. 
The     Arcade    Railway. 

We  give  elsewhere  to-day  a  full  description 
of  the  plan  of  the  proposed  Arcade  Railway. 
The  plan  is  not  only  popular,  but  it  is  almost 
the  first  of  the  many  measures  suggested  for 
the  relief  of  Broadway  that  seems  entirely 
practicable.  As  will  be  seen  by  our  descrip- 
tion, the  proposed  road  differs  entirely  from 


the  tunnel  roads  under  the  streets  of  London, 
and  obviates  the  objections  arising  from  want 
of  light  and  ventilation,  which  distinguish  the 
ordinary  railways  underground.  The  entire 
originality  of  the  new  plan  commends  it.  It 
relieves  Broadway  by  simply  doubling  that 
street,  and  giving  •  us  two  great  central 
thoroughfares  in  place  of  one .  There  is  no 
need  now  for  discussion  whether  such  a  road 
will  pay ;  the  capitalists  who  build  the  road 
are  concerned  in  that,  and  the  fact  that  shrewd 
business  men  will  put  their  money  into  this 
enterprise  is  a  guarantee  at  once  of  its  success 
and  its  necessity. 

Tin  Arcadt  plan  is  not  English,  hut  Ana  ri- 
can.  It  affords  light  and  air  in  abundance, 
without  artificial  means.  Instead  of  a  dark 
tun in  I,  its  obis  will  move  from  the  Battery 
northward  through  an  elegant  and  comfortable 
Arcadi .  always  about  as  pleasant  as  the  street 
above,  and  in  foul  and  stormy  weather  a  great 
deal  more  so.  It  proposes  to  invade  no  private 
rights,  and  endangers  no  vested  interests,  to 
take  no  property  without  paying  its  full  value, 
and  provide  the  metropolis  with  the  means  of 
safe  and  rapid  conveyance  for  both//-'  ightand 
passt  mji  /••-.without  injuring  a  single  one  of  the 
facilities  for  life  and  business  which  we  now 
possess.  It  will  injnri  nobody,  and  benefit 
i  vt  rybody. 


American  R.  R.  Journal,  June  1,  1883. 

Itroadway  Underground  Railway. 

Within  two  decades  three  great  public  enter- 
prises have  been  projected  in  New  York  city — 
the  New  York  and  Brooklyn  bridge — the  tunnel 
under  the  Hudson  River  connecting  New  York 
and  Jersey  City,  and  last  but  not  least,  the 
Broadway  Underground  Railway.  The  first 
is  finished  or  nearly  so,  the  second  is  in  course 
of  construction,  and  preliminary  work  upon 
the  last  is  being  pushed  with  vigor.        *        * 


New  York  Society  Journal,  June,  1885. 

"  A  many  years  ago,"  my  old-time  friend, 
Melville  0.  Smith,  projected  the  idea  of  an  un- 
ground,  or  arcade  railway,  and  has  been  pluck - 
lv  lighting  for  its  completion  ever  since.  It 
took  Jake  Sharpe  thirty-four  years  to  put 
through  his  surface  railway  scheme — but  he 
has  succeeded  at  last.  I  venture  the  prophecy 
that  Melville  C.  Smith  will  succeed  with  the 
Arcade.  All  he  lias  to  do  is  to  live  long  enough 
and  kill  off  some  of  the  old  fogies  who  think 
this  city  is  what  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago. 


NEW  YOKK  AKCADE  RAILWAY. 


13 


Albany  Evening  Journal,  May  12,  1884. 

The  Arcade  Railroad  bill  has  attracted  so 
much  attention,  not  only  in  New  York  but  also 
throughout  the  State,  that  we  give  elsewhere 
in  The  Journal  to-day  what  its  projectors 
have  to  say  in  its  favor.  The  influences  that 
uphold  the  measure  are*  exceedingly  strong, 
and  represent  much  of  the  wealth  and  intelli- 
gence of  New  York  city.  The  arguments  made 
before  Governor  Cleveland  against  the  bill 
were  published  on  Saturday.  They  appear  to  be 
more  than  met  by  tin  statements  on  ih<  other 
siil,-  given  to-day.  The  leading  papers  of  New 
York,  which  may  be  relied  upon  as  a  rule  to 
indicate  the  sentiment  of  the  people  of  that 
city,  allfavorthe  bill.  The  Arcade  Railroad, 
if  built,  will  be  to  New  York  city  what  the 
famous  underground  lines  of  London  are  to 
that  great  metroj^olis,  with  the  additional  ad- 
vantages of  much  better  ventilation  and  light 
than  the  tunnel  roads  of  Loudon  can  ever  have. 
The  new  enterprise,  as  an  engineering  feat, 
will  rank  with  the  Brooklyn  bridge  and  other 
famous  undertakings  of  the  best  engineers  in 
the  United  States. 


Albany  Argns,  April  19,  1884. 

The  State  Senate  ordered  the  Broadway  Ar- 
cade bill  to  a  third  reading  on  Friday.  The  meas- 
ure is  one  of  the  most  important  in  its  effects 
brought  before  this  legislature.  Itcontemplates 
the  creation  of  a  second  Broadway  (under- 
ground) lighted,  housed  and  weatherproof,  with 
all  the  gas,  water , steam-heating  and  sewer  pipes, 
as  well  as  those  to  contain  telegraph,  telephone 
and  electric  light  wires  in  tubes,  arranged  on 
the  sides  as  they  subterraneously  are  in  Paris. 
Aside  from  the  debatable,  legal,  scientific,  and 
constitutional  questions  in  the  bill,  the  trans- 
formation which  it  proposes  to  produce  is  start- 
ling and  not  unpicturesque. 


Albany  Times,  May  26,  1885. 

The  Arcade  Kailw-ay. 

Great  changes  have  been  going  on  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  the  New  Yorker  of  twenty  or 
eveu  ten  years  ago  returning  to  the  metropolis 
would  scarcely  recognize  it  as  the  same  city. 
But  the  city  is  even  yet  in  a  transition  state, 
aud  greater  changes  are  contemplated  than  the 
erection  of  great  buildings,  the  opening  of  new 
streets,  or  the  construction  of  the  elevated  rail- 
road or  of  the  Brooklyn  Bridge.  The  existence 
of  the  latter  structure,  despite  its  magnificent 


proportions  and  its  great  cost,  may  be,  for  all 
practical  purposes,  entirely  unknown  to  thou- 
sands of  New  York  business  men,  so  great  and 
so  numerous  are  the  commercial  interests  that 
ran  dwarf  and  even  obscure  a  work  of  such 
magnitude.  A  peculiarity  of  the  city  is,  that 
while  the  great  side  thoroughfares,  running 
north  aud  south,  are  crowded  with  railroad 
tracks,  both  surface  and  elevated,  Broadway, 
the  great  centra!  artery,  has  been  left  free  from 
what  must  be  regarded,  in  spite  of  its  great 
conveniences,  as  an  obstruction.  New  York 
has  ever  been  proud  of  its  Broadway,  and 
jealous  of  its  ancient  rights  and  privileges,  aud 
schemes  to  construct  a  railroad  in  Broadway, 
either  on  the  surface  or  above  and  below  it, 
have  always  been  strongly  opposed.  Now, 
however,  the  pavement  has  been  broken  for  a 
surface  railway  which  it  is  expected,  if  not  in- 
terfered with  by  the  courts,  will  be  in  operation 
in  six  weeks.  A  far  bolder  scheme,  however, 
is  that  of  the  Arcade  Railway  Company,  whose 
bill,  authorizing  the  construction  of  an  under- 
ground rapid  transit  road  under  Broadway  and 
Madison  Avenue  through  the  entire  length  of 
those  thoroughfares,  was  passed  by  the  Legis- 
lature just  before  its  adjournment,  and  is  now 
awaiting  the  signature  of  Governor  Hill. 

There  are  some  objections  doubtless  to  the 
present  plan,  and  there  are  some  obstacles,  but 
we  believe  that  the  Arcade  railway  will  sooner 
Or  later  be  an  established  fact,  and  if  the  Gov- 
ernor finds  the  present  bill  objectionable  an- 
other  Legislature  will  remedy  the  defects. 
With  the  elevated  roads  and  the  Brooklyn 
Bridge  established,  a  tunnel  road  under  Broad- 
way and  under  the  two  rivers  cannot  be  long 
delayed. 


Utica  Morning  Herald,  March  13,  1885. 

The  Broadway  Underground  Railroad. 

It  seems  reasonably  certain  that  New  York 
city  is  at  leugth  to  have  an  underground  rail- 
way that  will  eventually  run  the  full  length  of 
the  island. 

The  travel  between  City  Hall  park  and  Cen- 
tral park  has  now  become  so  immense  that  the 
existing  lines  of  cars,  both  surface  and  eleva- 
ted, are  no  longer  able  to  accommodate  it,  and 
the  time  seems  propitious  for  undertaking  the 
construction  of  a  tunnel  road. 

The  figures  representing  the  increase  of 
travel  are  exceedingly  interesting.  "  The 
growth  of  passenger  traffic  in  New  York  is 
something  enormous.  In  1850  the  traffic  was 
6,835,548  persons  ;  in  1860  it  was  36,455,242; 


14 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PKESS. 


in  1870  it  was  115,139,553  ;  in  1880  it  was  211,- 
222,348  ;  last  year  it  was  284,115,862.  '  The 
growth  of  the  passenger  traffic  in  the  last  seven 
years,  since  the  elevated  roads  began  running, 
is  120,179,564  a  year,  or  23,476,944  more  than 
all  the  elevated  roads  now  carry.  At  the  low- 
est estimate  provision  will  have  to  be  made  in 
1890,  six  years  hence,  for  an  increase  of  traffic 
of  138,0  ;0  passengers. 

This  statement  shows  how  vitally  important 
it  has  become  that  some  new  means  of  com- 
munication between  "down  town  "  and  "  up 
towu"  shouldbeestablished.  And  it  isa  subject 
in  which  not  only  New  Yorkers  hut  flu  wholt 
country  feels  an  interest.  Everybody  in  these 
days  goes  to  " the  city"  from  one  to  half  a 
dozen  times  in  a  year.  Ami  everybody  has 
had  some  experience  with  tin  crowd  await- 
ing transportation  from  tin  post  offict  and 
vicinity,  between  thru  and  four  o'clock  in  tht 
aft,  rnoon.  A  m  u-  stt  am  road  that  could  st  ml 
out  its  trains  every  thr<<  minutes  mould 
do  more  '<>  rt  lit  ve  this  prt  ssurt  Hum  u  dozt  n 
additional  surf  act  rood--;  ami  tht  elevated 
road  is  already  worked  to  tht  full  extent  of 
its  capacity. 


Syracuse  Courier,  May  9,  1884. 
Of  all  tht   schemes  to  providt    W<no  York 

mi/h   rapid    transit,    not    nm    has  eumnu  mh  d 

itself  to  tin  jmhj mi  nt  not  only  of  tht  expert 
engineers,  but  of  tin  public  as  in  ii,  as  tin 
A  mull  underground.  For  years  this  plan 
of  rapid  transit  has  hi  in  mon  or  less  the 
subject  of  discussion,  ami  it  is  notablt  that 
it  has  steadily  gained  in  favor  with  thinking 
an  n.  While  tht  air  at  Albany  was  full  of 
disgraceful  scandals  concerning  other  .%'<»• 
York  railroad  schemes,  it  is  a  remarkablt 
and  most  creditable  fact  'hat  tin  breath  of 
suspicion  never  once  fell  upon  flu  Arcade. 
/fin  was  one  measurt  at  least  that  in  nt 
through  on  its  merits — one  in  which  no  ont 
has  ventured  tochargt  that  questionable,  cor- 
rupt <>r  improper  inducements  wen  offered 
tu  any  member  of  i  ither  houst  for  his  sup- 
port. 

It  must  have  been  a  refreshing  sensation  to 
the  rural  members  to  In-  able  to  cast  their 
votes  for  this  great  enterprise,  on  its  merits, 
and  without  a  suipicion  of  questionable  influ- 
ence or  corrupt  appliances.  A  large  number 
of  experts  and  the  most  eminent  civil  engi- 
neers and  scientists  in  this  country  have  certi- 
fied to  the  utility  and  safety  of  the  road,  as  well 
as  the  entire  practicability  with  which  it  may 


be  built,  maintained  and  operated  without  det- 
riment and  without  injury  to  the  streets  or  ad- 
jacent property.  There  is  no  other  considera- 
tion than  merit,  and  demonstrated  success  in 
other  countries,  which  could  induce  such  men 
as  George  B.  McClellan,  John  B.  Jarvis  and 
William  J.  McAlpine*  to  put  on  record  their 
indorsement  and  approval  of  such  a  scheme. 


Boston  Daily  Advertiser  March,  13  1884. 

An  Arcade  Kailway.     A  proposed  Improvement 
for  Broadway,  New  York. 

A  New  York  paper  in  discussing  the  plan 
for  making  an  Arcadi  under  Broadway,  says  : 
It  will  practically  create  a  second  Broadway. 
Every  building  along  which  the  Railway  will 
run  will  have  a  new  stoiy  added  to  it.  This 
will  he  effected  by  changing  the  useless  cellars 
into  basement  stores  at  a  small  outlay  to  the 
owner,  thus  yielding  a  substantial  rental  where 
there  is  now  no  derivable  income.  The  Arcade 
will  be  well  lighted,  while  the  atmosphere  will 
be  pure  and  the  ventilation  perfect.  The  com- 
pany will  have  the  power  to  construct  sub- 
ways for  the  accommodation  of  sewers,  steam, 
gas  and  water  pipes,  as  well  as  telegraph  and 
telephone  wires  and  pneumatic  tubes.  These 
will  all  he  easily  accessible,  and  so  obviate  the 
necessity  for  the  streets  being  continually  torn 
up.  During  the  winter  the  Arcade  will  be  a 
pleasant  retreat  from  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather,  and  in  the  summer  will  afford  escape 
from  the  scorching  raysof  the  sun.  Ladies  es- 
pecially will  be  benefitted,  as  they  will  be  able 
to  do  their  shopping  despite  climatic  adversi- 
ties. The  Arcade  will  be  a  four-track  railway, 
with  passenger  and  freight  trains,  way  and 
through,  running  every  two  minutes.  Mer- 
chants, importers  ami  tin  various  business 
In, usi  s  mi  J!  road  ira//  and  flu  adjacent  struts 
Will  In  able,  at  tht  ir  Vt  ry  doors,  to  ship  and  re- 
el in  goods  to  and  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
Stati  s. 


.Manufacturers'  Gazette,  Boston,  Aug.  18,  '83. 

Sub-Surface  Transit. 

In  treating  of  better  means  of  transit  in 
large  cities,  the  Gazette  has  had  occasion  be- 
fore this  to  say  that  not  a  surface  railway  nor 
an  elevated  railway,  but  an  underground  rail- 
way was  the  ideal  thing.  Cable  roads  may 
serve  the  purpose  for  a  time  ;  "L"  roads  are 
likewise  an  efficient  aid  to  rapid  transit 
until  something  better  is  found,  but  the  best 
way  of  all    is  to  put  the  rails    below  terra 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


15 


flrma.  Such  an  enterprise  is  projected  in 
New  York  city.         *         *         * 

We  are  not  sufficiently  versed  in  engineering 
to  say  that  the  plans  of  the  projectors  can  be 
carried  out,  aud  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  the 
surface  road  perfectly  secure,  but  engineers 
who  ought  to  know,  GenAGeorge  15.  McOlellan 
among  the  number,  have  testified  that  there 
are  no  difficulties  attending  the  construction  of 
the  work  which  cannot  be  overcome  with 
engineering  skill,  and  at  a  comparatively  mod- 
erate cost. 

The  practicability  of  the  enterprise  estab- 
lished, the  advantages  likely  to  accrue  from  it- 
are  obvious. 


Pomeroy's  Democrat,  Denver,  Colo. 

[Editorial  Lett'  r. } 

New  York,  Jan.  28,  188:1 

Belief  of  llroadway.—  Arcade  Railway. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  day  after  the  late 
snow  storm  a  full  hundred  thousand  men  and 
women  would  have  given  a  dollar  each  for  an  un- 
derground railway  the  length  of  Broadway.  The 
snow  was  deep  in  the  streets  ;  teams  pulled 
and  plunged  with  their  loads.  Teamsters 
swore  ;  carts,  coaches,  cabs,  carriages,  omni- 
buses and  transfer  wagons  were  jammed  and 
wedged  together.  Horses  were  down,  pedes- 
trians were  run  over,  and  bad  nature  was  en- 
gendered. In  all  such  skirmishes  country 
people,  who  are  timid  and  not  up  in  New  York 
ways,  suffer  the  most. 

An  Arcade  railway,  with  wide  walks  each  side 
for  pedestrians,  will  always  be  a  necessity  and 
a  comfort,  but  never  more  so  than  in  stormy 
days.  A  few  weeks  ago  I  gave  a  brief  account 
of  this  gigantic  enterprise,  with  two  illustra- 
tions, in  a  letter  to  the  Democrat,  but  did  not 
and  could  not  tell  the  quarter  of  the  benefits 
that  would  result  from  such  a  doubling  of  the 
capacity  of  Broadway. 

The  man  who  furnishes  employment  to  labor 
is  a  public  benefactor.  The  man  who  is  in- 
spired or  educated  to  see  how  to  confer  lasting 
benefits,  how  to  lessen  care,  struggling,  dis- 
comfort and  irritation,  is  a  positive  benefactor. 
Men  who  unite  to  carry  on  a  great  work  like 
the  Broadway  miderground  railway,  deserve 
all  the  capital,  the  aid,  the  legislation,  and  the 
encouragement  it  is  possible  for  them  to  re- 
ceive. 

Brick  Pomeroy. 


Reading,  Penn.,  Times,  June  (>,  1888. 
A  Stupendous  Undertakings 

The  recent  death  of  OUT  late  townsman,  Ed- 
ward .M.  Olymer,  Esq.,  oaUa  to  mind  the  great 
scheme  with  which  his  name  and  enterprise 
were  linked.  We  refer  to  the  Broadway  Un- 
derground Railway,  in  the  organization  of 
which  he  was  one  of  the  charter  members,  and 
also  treasurer  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

The  better  for  the  readers  of  the  Times  to 
appreciate  this  stupendous  undertaking,  which 
\fill  take  rank  with  the  tunneling  of  the  Alps, 
we  have  secured  a  pictorial  representation  of 
the  projected  arcade  railroad.  The  details  of 
the  illustration  are  so  complete  as  scarcely  to 
require  explanation.  Europt  lias  iiudi  rg round 
railways,  but  they  will  bt  dwarfed  into  insig- 
nificance i>n  that  of  New  York. 

Tin  re  is  no  doubt  that  this  plan  to  make 
a  double  Broadway  is  om  of  the  grandest 
enterprises  in  relation  to  public  travel  ever 
projected  in  any  country,  and  every  good 
citizen  of  New  York,  as  well  as  the  millions 
who  visit  tin  great  metropolis,  will  no  doubt 
rejoice  to  see  tht  com pany  carry  if  speedily 
and  successfully  through. 


New  York  Daily  Graphic,  April  13, 1883. 

Broadway    Underground    Railway. 

TWO  TRACKS,   OR  FOUR? — TUNNEL  OR  ARCADE? — 
WHICH  ? 

We  present  in  this  number  of  the  Graphic, 
a  picture  of  the  projected  Arcade  Railroad  un- 
der Broadway,  as  it  will  look  when  constructed 
and  in  use,  the  view  being  from  Pine  street  up 
Broadway.  The  details  of  the  illustration  are 
so  complete  as  scarcely  to  require  other  ex- 
planation. It  will  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  this 
is  neither  a  surface,  a  tunnel,  nor  an  elevated 
railway,  but  a  device  which  combines  the  chief 
advantages  and  is  singularly  free  from  the 
chief  drawbacks  of  all. 

The  Broadway  Underground  Railroad  Com- 
pany, of  which  Melville  C.  Smith  is  President, 
has  offices  in  the  Boreel  Building.  At  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  stockholders  ex-secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  William  Windom,  H.  C.  Gardiner, 
Jerome  Fassler,  Sr.,  and  Edward  M.  Clymer 
were  among  the  trustees  elected,  and  it  is  re- 
ported that  several  large  and  prominent  prop- 
erty owners  on  Broadway  are  to  be  added  to 
the  Board .  This  company  possesses  a  charter 
from  the  Legislature  authorizing  it  to  construct 
a  tunnel  road  under  Broadway  and  Madison 
avenue  from  the  Battery  to  the  Harlem  River 


16 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PKESS. 


New  York  Daily  Graphic — Continued. 

OBJECTIONS   TO   A   TUNNEL    ROAD. 

The  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  recently  expressed  the  opinion  that 
a  tunnel  road  under  Broadway  was  not  the 
right  kind  of  a  rapid  transit  road  to  build.  The 
present  Broadway  Underground  Railroad  Com- 
pany is  of  the  same  opinion,  and  it  now  asks 
the  Legislature  to  modify  its  charter  so  as  to 
enable  it  to  build  a  better  one,  aud  satisfy  a 
more  enlightened  public  opinion. 

Tunnels  ought  to  be  the  last  resort  of  tlte 
railway  engineer.  Short  ones  afford  a  pleasur- 
able, because  a  brief,  excitement  to  women  and 
children  ;  but  to  the  experienced  traveller  they 
are  always  nuisances  in  exact  proportion  to 
their  length.  In  light  and  ventilation  they  are 
of  course  deficient ;  while  in  the  possibility  of 
wholesale  slaughter  in  casas  of  accident  they 
are  a  constant  terror. 

But  a  tunnel  road  under  Broadway,  with  its 
disadvantages  would  be  vastly  better  than  no 
rapid  transit  along  this  important  line.  It 
would  greatly  accommodate  thousands  every 
day  ;  and,  as  the  projectors  believe  it  would  be 
a  profitable  investment,  they  will  certainly 
buill  it  within  the  terms  of  their  charter,  un- 
less they  are  permitted  to  substitute  an  Arcade 
road,  as  shown  in  the  picture,  perfectly  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  modern  travel  and  to  the  con- 
formation of  this  superb  thoroughfare. 

ADVANTAGES  OF  AN  ARCADE  ROAD. 

But  if  the  bill  now  before  the  Legislature 
shall  become  a  law  the  great  problem  of  rapid 
transit  in  the  metropolis  will  be  solved  for  a 
century  ;  the  interests  of  property  holders,  not 
only  in  the  upper  part  of  the  island,  but  along 
Broadway,  will  be  promoted  and  protected, 
and  an  avenue  of  unrivalled  solidity,  unique 
beauty  and  abundant  spaciousness,  capable  of 
accommodating  a  million  passengers  a 'day, 
will  be  added  to  the  transporting  capability  of 
the  city.  This  is  no  dream  of  visionaries;  it 
is  a  project  of  practical  men  which  has  the  ap- 
proval of  the  most  accomplished  and  eminent 
engineers  of  the  country  and  the  offer  of  money 
enough  to  build  it  from  end  to  end  during*the 
next  five  years. 

DESCRIPTION    OF   THE   PICTURE. 

As  shown  in  the  sketch,  the  plan  of  the  Ar- 
cade Railroad  is  simply  to  make  a  double 
Broadway.  The  street  will  he  excavated  to  the 
depth  of  about  seventeen  feet  under  the  road- 
way for  a  four-track  railroad,  and  twelve  feet 
under  the  present  sidewalks  for  duplicate  side- 
walks by  the  side  of  the  railroad  beneath,  on  a 
evel  with  the  platform  of  the  cars. 


THE   UPPER   BROADWAY. 

The  roadway  will  then  be  replaced  at  its 
present  level  by  arches  of  solid  masonry,  ren- 
dered water-tight  by  impervious  asphaltum 
coating,  resting  on  iron  columns,  and  covered 
with  a  solid  wagon -way  of  the  very  latest  and 
most  approved  pattern.  This  road-bed  will 
never  need  to  be  disturbed  until  worn  out. 

During  the  day  the  railroad  will  be  lighted 
from  above  through  six  feet  width  of  open  area 
on  each  side,  which  the  law  now  allows  adjoin- 
ing every  building,  and  also  through  bull's- 
eyes  of  glass  along  the  curbstone,  as  in  front 
of  the  Evening  Post  and  other  large  buildings. 
Indeed,  if  required,  the  whole  sidewalk  can  be 
made  of  glass,  like  that  in  front  of  the 
"  Florence,"  at  Fourth  avenue  and  Eighteenth 
street,  and  other  fine  structures  and  upper 
floors  of  many  arcaded  buildings  in  lower 
Broadway.  Besides  the  open  areas,  ventila- 
tion will  be  had  through  similar  spaces  at  the 
street  at  the  entrances  of  the  corners  and 
stairways.  The  stairs  will  be  only  ten  or 
twelve  feet  high, — less  than  half  the  length  of 
the  average  stairs  of  the  Elevated  railways, 
while  the  cars  will  be  rendered  still  more  ac- 
cessible by  the  elevators  in  the  stores  on  every 
block,  which  will  doubtless  be  sent  down  to 
the  basement. 

THE  ARCADE  OR  LOWER  BROADWAY. 

Upon  the  solid  earth  of  the  lower  street  will 
be  built  four-tracks,  the  two  iuside  to  be  used 
for  express  teains,  to  stop  only  once  in  about  a 
mile,  and  the  two  outside  for  slower  cars  for 
the  accommodation  of  way  passengers.  The 
accommodation  trains  will  run  only  about  as 
fast  as  the  present  trains  of  I  lie  Elevated  rail- 
roads ;  while  the  express  trains,  it  is  expected, 
will  run  from  the  Battery  to  the  Harlem  River 
in  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes.  At  each  side  of 
this  lower  street  will  lie  the  sidewalks,  beneath 
which  vaults  can  be  constructed  if  desired. 
Through  these  open  spaces,  as  already  in- 
dicated, with  glass  in  the  sidewalks  if  neces- 
sary,  and  the  vaulted  transepts  at  the  corners, 
perfect  daylight  will  be  supplied  below,  and  at 
night  the  whole  of  the  lower  roadway  will  be 
splendid  with  electricity. 

Tho  lower  sidewalk  can  be  made  available 
for  trade.  The  basement,  now  virtually  wasted 
for  the  storage  of  uupacked  goods  and  old 
boxes,  can  easily  be  converted  into  valuable 
and  accessible  stores,  with  show  windows  as 
attractive  as  those  in  the  upper  street. 

Indeed,  it  is  believed  by  competent  business 
men  and  real  estate  owners  on  Broadway,  that 


NEW   STORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


17 


New  York  Daily  Graphic     Continued. 

the  rental  of  this  basement  would  approxi- 
mate to  Ilit'  present  rental  of  the  main  floor. 

FOUNDATION     OF    Hl'lLIHNOS. 

The  foundation  of  every  building  on  Broad- 
way erected  within  the  last  twenty  years  is  suf- 
ficiently low  not  to  be  disturbedby  the  propos- 
ed excavation.    A. few  old  buildings  willhave  to 

be  shored  up  and  their  foundations  deepened, 
a  common  building  operation  nowadays.  In 
fact,  the  foundations  of  the  buildings  would 
be  far  less  disturbed  i>y  the  Arcade  plan  with 
its  shallow  excavation  than  by  the  construc- 
tion of  a  tunnel  road,  such  as  the  company 
now  has  a  right  to  build,  twenty-five  or  thirty 
feet  under  Broadway.  Of  course,  in  the  light 
of  the  fact,  that  Chicago  has  been  raised  bodi- 
ly while  business  went  on  uninterruptedly  in  the 
buildings,  and  that  in  riding  down  Broadway 
one  frequently  sees  thirty  foot  excavations  for 
new  buildings  adjoining  thin  side  walls  with 
insufficient  foundation,  it  will  not  be  seriously 
claimed  that  the  matter  of  excavation  is  an  ob- 
stacle to  the  construction  of  the  Arcade  Kail- 
road.  Indeed  the  Commissioners  themselves, 
in  their  report  against  a  tunnel  road,  which 
would  encounter  far  greater  obstacles,  speak  as 
follows  on  this  point:  "But  it  appears  to  be 
well  and  sufficiently  proven  that  the  present 
state  of  the  science  of  engineering  is  such  that 
a  sufficient  amount  of  time  and  money  and  the 
use  of  adequate  means  are  the  only  limitations 
to  the  successful  performance  of  the  work  pro- 
posed." 

PROVISIONS    FOB    SEWERS,  ETC. 

There  will  be  no  interruption  of  the  sewage 
system  or  of  the  water  and  gas  supply  along 
the  line  of  the  great  thoroughfare,  but  the  water 
pipes,  gas  pipes,  sewers,  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone wires,  electric  light  wires,  pneumatic 
tubes  and  all  devices  f<  ir  the  cleaning  of  the  city 
and  the  accommodation  of  the  public  will  be  pro- 
vided for  in  the  Arcade  structure  itself,  where 
they  will  be  out  of  the  way  and  yet  where  they 
can  be  reached  in  a  moment  without  expense 
at  any  time  for  the  purpose  of  adjustment  and 
repair.  These  will  be  located  either  under  the 
lower  sidewalks,  as  shown  in  the  illustration 
herewith,  or  under  the  railroad  tracks,  accord- 
ing to  a  similar  plan  that  has  been  approved — 
whichever  may  Vie  preferred.  Indeed,  the  tel- 
egraph and  electric  light  wires,  &c,  could  be 
carried  suspended  along  the  upper  part  of  the 
arcade. 

The  Herald  and  other  leading  papers  have 
voiced  the  imperative  demand  of  the  business 
interests    and  of  the  public  for  provision  by 


vaults  or  excavations   to    meet    this  constant  ly 

increasing  necessity  and  obviate  these  unbear- 
able obstructions  to  the  streets,  and  Mayor 
Ejdson,  in  his  recent  message,  speaks  as  follows: 
1 '  An  important  question  arises  here,  namely. 
whether  some  system  of  genera]  city  improve 
ment  cannot  be  adopted  «  hereby  this  frequent 
upturning  of  our  thoroughfares,  with  its  con- 
sequent disturbance  of  travel  and  of  busi- 
ness, may  not  be  wholly  prevented.  Here 
would  seem  to  be  an  opportunity  for  some  per- 
son of  enterprise,  or  for  some  private  corpora 
tion  to  mature  a  plan  for  underlaying  the 
streets  with  a  single  excavation  which  shall 
provide  not  only  for  the  water,  gas  and  steam 
pipes,  but  also  for  telegraph  and  telephone 
wires,  and  other  appliances  which  the  public 
convenience  may  hereafter  require."* 

The  water  and  drainage  from  the  upper 
roadway  will  reach  the  sewers  below  through 
the  hollow  supporting  columns  of  iron. 

NO    INTERRUPTION    OF   TRAVEL. 

There  will  be  no  interruption  of  travel  dur- 
ing the  process  of  building,  as  the  engineers 
have  devised  a  moveable  bridge  extending  from 
side  to  side  of  the  street,  ajid  only  four  feet 
higher  than  the  present  level,  under  which  the 
work  will  be  continuously  carried  on  as  it  is 
advanced,  the  earth  being  removed  through 
the  completed  end  of  the  road. 

FREIGHT  TRAINS. 

As  only  two  tracks  will  be  required  during  the 
.night  for  travel,  the  other  two  can  be  assigned 
to  freight  transportation.  Merchandise  will 
not  only  be  carried  up  and  down  the  island, 
but  as  the  gauge  of  the  Arcade  tracks  will  be 
uniform  with  that  of  the  railroads  centering  in 
New  York,  freight  can  be  transported  between 
the  warehouses  and  distant  parts  of  the  coun- 
try without  breaking  bulk.  This  "'ill  save  an 
immense  amount  of  money  and  solvt  perma- 
nently and  most  satisfactorily  a  problem 
that  lias  puzzled  tin  brains  of  New  Yorkt  rs 
for  a  gent  ration. 

DIRECT    PASSENGER   TRAVEL. 

On  the  express  tracks  can  be  run  through 
trains,  with  parlor  and  sleeping  cars,  to  be 
switched  upon  the  tracks  of  the  roads  at  the 
North  and  run  to  all  parts  of  thi  country,  so 
that  citizens  of  New  York  can  take  the  cars 
near  their  own  homes  for  any  destination,  or, 
coming  from  a  distance,  can  be  put  down  near 
their  own  homes  or  a  hotel  without  a  long  and 
disagreeable  ride  in  some  other  vehicle. 

•  See  articles  on  "  SUBWAYS. 


18 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESvS. 


New  York  Daily  Graphic — Continued. 

THE    ROUTE. 

The  route  of  the  Arcade  road  will  be  tlie 
same  as  that  for  the  Underground  Tunnel  road 
which  the  company  is  authorized  to  construct, 
and  which  was  originally  selected  with  a  view 
of  dividing  the  island  into  three  nearly  equal 
subdivisions — from  the  Battery  to  Madison 
Square  under  the  surface  of  Broadway,  thence 
forking  under  upper  Broadway  on  the  west  and 
under  Madison  avenue  to  Harlem  Biver  on  the 
east.  This  is  directly  along  the  line  of  greatest 
pressure,  where  the  rush  of  travel  will  be  most 
conspicuously  relieved.  It  is  and  always  will 
remain  the  popular  centre  of  transit  up  and 
down  the  island;  but  as  it  cannot  tolerate 
horse  cars  and  must  not  be  abased,  this  Arcade 
project  offers  its  only  practicable  relief. 

THE    COMMISSIONERS'    REPORT    CONSIDERED. 

The  objections  which  the  Commissioner* 
appointed  by  the  Supreme  Court  have  outlined 
to  a  tunnel  road  are,  most  of  them  tenable. 

They  reasonably  object  to  a  tunnel  road  be- 
cause it  would  obviously  lack  capacity  to  ac- 
commodate the  travel.  The  four-track  Arcade 
road,  on  the  other  hand,  can  transport  100,000 
passengers  an  hour — as  many  as  will  require 
transportation  alonj?  the  line  during  the  next 
generation. 

The  building  of  the  Arcade  road,  according 
to  the  plans  proposed,  would  create  no  ob- 
struction whatever,  and  the  road-bed.  when 
completed,  woidd  be  as  perfect  as  science  could 
devise. 

They  reasonably  object  to  a  tunnel  road 
because  it  would  be  dark,  ill-ventilated  and 
unwholesome.  The  Arcade  would  be  well 
ventilated,  light  and  pure. 

They  reasonably  object  to  a  tunnel  road 
(from  Park  Place  to  Fourteenth  street)  be- 
cause it  would  connect  no  great  systems  of 
travel;  it  would  begin  nowhere  and  lead  no- 
where. The  Arcade  road  would  begin  some- 
where and  lead  everywhere  ;  it  would  furnish 
just  exactly  the  swift  passage  which  the  nar- 
row island  now  imperatively  demands,  receiv- 
ing the  tens  of  thousands  every  morning  from 
the  upper  wards  and  Westchester  County,  and 
conducting  them  to  their  business  and  return- 
ing them  quickly  to  their  homes  at  night. 
The  Commissioners,  in  their  adverse  report  on 
the  tunnel  road,  admit  that  "as  a  link  of  a 
completed  system  of  similarly  constructed 
railroad  extending  southerly  to  the  Battery 
and  northwardly  from  Fourteenth  street  to 
a  connection  with  other  established  lines  of 
railroad  traversing  the  city  through  its  entire 


length,  the  proposed  raih'oad  of  the  petitioner 
might  be  veiy  desirable,  if  not  necessary, 
when  constructed  in  a  proper  manner  and  un- 
der proper  conditions,  although  at  the  expense 
of  public  and  private  interests." 

They  reasonably  object  to  a  tunnel  road  be- 
cause it  would  not  accommodate  way  travel, 
and  would  bring  to  the  trade  of  Broadway  no 
advantages  to  compensate  for  the  tearing  up 
of  the  street.  The  Arcade  road  would  have  an 
entrance  and  an  exit  at  every  corner,  would 
provide  for  all  pipes  and  sewers,  would  super- 
sede all  telegraph  poles,  would  duplicate  the 
trade  capacity  of  Broadway  by  adding  a  light 
and  eligible  store  under  every  building,  and 
would  render  it  so  accessible  to  citizens  and 
visitors  as  to  make  it  once  more  and  for  all 
time  the  unrivalled  business  centre  of  the 
island. 

Tin  capacity  of  a  business  street  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  trad*  and  travel  is  conceded 
to  be  tin  measure  of  its  real  estaU  values. 
The  Arcade  would  not  only  duplicate  the  street 
itself,  but  it  would  use  a  motive  power  for 
transportation  vastly  more  effective  than  can 
be  applied  to  the  present  surface,  banishing 
most  of  the  drays,  carts  and  obstructive  ve- 
hicles ;  would  prevent  the  gorging  of  Broad- 
way and  treble  its  capacity  in  all  essential  par- 
ticulars for  which  a  great  thoroughfare  is  valu- 
able. The  drays  and  carts  which  gorge  and 
block  the  surface  street,  and  lightning  express 
trains  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  in  dark,  deep, 
sunken  tunnels  would  be  alike  poor  customers 
for  Broadway. 

KOBE  RAPID  TRANSIT  NEEDED. 

Broadway,  as  one  of  its  heaviest  real  estate 
owners  recently  remarked,  "  has  been  nursed 
to  death,"  till  plebeian  avenues  have  rapidly 
gained  upon  it  and  threaten  to  outstrip  it  in 
the  race,  unless  it  avails  itself  of  the  best 
system  of  rapid  transit  without  further  delay. 
The  stationary  values  of  central  Broadway 
plead  no  less  imperatively  than  the  vacant  lots 
of  the  upper  wards  and  the  multiplying  vil- 
lages of  Westchester  County  for  a  road  through 
the  length  of  the  island  that  shall  be  at  once 
swift,  safe  and  efficient. 

The  elevated  roads  have  reached  their  full 
capacity  during  the  hours  when  they  are  most 
needed.  They  cannot  run  trains  oftener  or 
faster,  or  with  more  cars  than  at  present.  No 
more  of  the  rich  and  beautiful  avenues  can  be 
sacrificed  to  them.  But  travel  on  the  city,  horse 
and  steam  cars  is  rapidly  increasing — two  or 
three  times  as  fast  as  the  population,  as  the 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


19 


New  York  Daily  Graphic    Continued. 
following  table  shows  : 

AVERAGE  NUMHEIt  OF  ItlliK.s  FOB  EACH  RESIDENT. 

Year.  Times.]  Year.  Times. 

1855 81  1866 98 

L857 87  L867 112 

1859 la  1872 124 


1860. 

1864. 

isc,;, 


1877. 
1881. 


.183 

171 


In  1840  the  population  of  New  York  resid- 
ing abovo  Fourteenth  street  was  only  41,342; 
now  it  is  750,000. 

WHAT   OTIIER    NEWSPAPERS   SAV. 

Since  the  ingenuity  of  man  has  been  applied  to 
the  improvement  of  cities,  no  conception  more 
magnificent  than  this  of  the  Arcade  Railroad  has 
been  brought  forward.  If  the  road  were  con- 
structed every  New  Yorker  would  be  more  pr<  ad 
of  it  than  of  any  other  ornament  to  the  city,  and 
we  shoidd  all  wonder  that  men  could  have  been 
found  to  oppose  it,  just  as  we  now  wonder  at 
those  who  fought  against  the  introduction  of  the 
Croton  water.  It  will  injure  nobody  and  benefit 
everybody. — N.    Y.  Sun. 

A  more  brilliant  aud  thoroughly  practicable  con- 
ception than  that  of  the  Arcade  Railway  was  never 
evoked  for  the  accommodation  of  popular  circula- 
tion in  a  great  city,  and  the  value  of  it  is  that 
whenever  applied,  or  if  universally  applied,  it 
builds  a  city  two  stones  high,  thus  doubling  the 
surface  for  commercial  transit  and  popular  travel. 
— Herald.  . 

We  trust  that  every  property  owner  and  inhabi- 
tant of  New  York  who  has  the  graudeur  of  the  Em- 
pire City  at  heart,  will  sustain  tlw  project  in  order 
tbat  the  Legislature  may  be  more  inclined  to  sanc- 
tion such  a  legitimate,  such  a  magnificent  and 
such  a  brilliant  undertaking. — Boyd's  Shipping 
Gazette. 

The  Arcade  plan  will  add  an  immense  avenue 
traversing  the  heart  of  the  metropolis,  and  afford- 
ing a  scene  without  parallel  the  world  over. — 
Moore's  Rural  New   Yorker. 

The  Arcade  Bailway  combines  the  advantages  of 
all  the  other  plans  and  is  singularly  free  from  their 
defects. — Engineering  and  Mining  Journal. 

This  will  give  to  the  people  the  great  boon  of 
sure,  rapid  and  cheap  communication,  aud  be  an 
attraction  to  out  of  town  visitors,  second  only  to 
that  of  the  great  Central  Park. — Scientific  Ameri- 


All  other  plans  thus  far  presented  sink  into  mere 
ratholes  when  compared  with  the  Arcade. — Brook- 
lyn Daily  Union. 


Had  such  a  railroad  been  constructed  ten  years 
a-,,  Ion, (inn  |,  ( ,ple  aud  hundreds  of  millions'  worth 
of  property  would    have  been  saved  t"  the  State. — 

New   Fork  Tribune. 

The  bill  before  the  committee  modifies  the  char- 
ter of  the  Broadway  Underground  Kailroad  Com- 
|,;ui\  by  making  provisions  even  more  satisfactory 
to  the  public  at  large;  than  the  original  proposition. 
In  place  of  a  bare  tunnel  like  that  of  the  London 
Metropolitan,  the  company  proposes  to  build  an  ar- 
cade. In  other  words,  the  new  design  covers  the 
scheme  of  building  a  second  Broadway  underneath 
the  existing  street,  with  sidewalks,  stores  on  either 
side  aud  such  features  of  a  street  as  are  consistent 
with  the  subterranean  conditions.  There  seems  to 
be  no  reason  why  such  a  programme  should  not  be 
carried  out. — Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle. 

From  among  the  petitions  of  many  thousands 
of  Broadway  property  owners  and  influential 
citizens,  we  are  permitted  to  publish  the  fol- 
lowing from  the  revered  and  lamented  Peter 
Cooper : 

PETER  COOPER'S   OPINION. 

To  Messrs.  James  Brown,  A.  A.  Low,  John 
Jacob  Astor  and  Wilson  G.  Hunt  : 

******* 

After  having  examined  the  various  plans 
proposed  for  relieving  Broadway,  and  at 
the  same  time  securing  the  cheapest,  most 
convenient  and  most  rapid  transportation  of 
freight  aud  passengers  from  one  extremity 
of  tie  city  to  the  other  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying,  that  the  plan  recom- 
mended by  Mr.  Smith  presents  advantages 
incomparably  greater  than  any  other  plan  that 
has  ever  been  presented.  Yours,  with  great 
respect. 

Peter  Cooper. 

commodore  vanderbilt's  approval. 

In  the  same  conuectiou  it  may  be  well  to 
present  the  subjoined  : 

I  would  be  much  pleased  to  have  the  Arcade 
Railroad  completed  under  Broadway.  I  fh  ink 
it  is  (iii  enterprise  that  tin  citizens  of  Ni  w 
York  would  be  %>roud  of. 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt. 
american  institute  report. 

' '  The  rapid  growth  of  New  York  City  in 
wealth  and  population,  with  the  corresponding 
increase  iu  trade  and  travel,  have  so  crowded 
the  thoroughfares  and  overburdened  the  means 
of  transportation  that  the  imperative  demand 
for  relief  has  naturally  awakened  the  active 
thoughts  aud  creative  faculties  of  many  minds. 
Among  the  numerous  plans  presented  appar- 
ently the  most  complete  and  comprehensive  is 
that  of  the  Arcade  Bailway." 


20 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


New  York  Daily  Graphic — Continued. 

The  plan  has  been  received  with  general 
favor  by  the  public  and  by  engineers.  Of  the 
latter,  General  E.  L.  Yiele,  Mr.  William  J. 
McAlpine,  C.  L.  McAlpine,  Colonel  J.  W. 
Adams,  Silas  Seymour,  J.  N.  Greene,  and  D. 
E.  and  I.  B.  Culver,  among  others,  have  given 
it  their  hearty  endorsement . 

JUDGMENT    OF    EMINENT   ENGINEERS. 

The  Arcade  provides  complete  accommoda- 
/  tion  for  through  and  way  transit  of  passengers 
J  and  freight  between  the  extreme  limits  of  the 
|  island  and  along  its  main  artery. 

It  furnishes  an  arcade  aveime  and  prome- 
nade, well  lighted  and  ventilated,  convenient 
for  pedestrians  at.  all  times,  and  with  special 
advantages  in  warm,  cold  or  stormy  weather. 
It  can  be  constructed  without  interruption 
either  to  the  travel  on  the  street  or  the  con- 
venient use  of  the  buildings  adjacent,  and 
without  endangering  any  of  the  structures 
along  the  street  and  with  arrangements  for  a 
better  location  of  the  water  and  gas  pipes  and 
sewers  than  now  exists. 

The  route  selected — namely,  that  along 
Broadway,  is  determined  by  the  topography  of 
the  island. 

It  in  no  case  occupies  or  injures  any  private 
property,  but  in  nearly  all  cases  greatly  en- 
hances the  value  of  the  property  along  its 
route. 

There  an'  no  difficulties  attending  the  con- 
struction of  the  work  which  cannot  be  over- 
come with  engineering  skill,  and  at  a  compara- 
tively moderate  cost. 

Finally,  it  meets  a  necessity  in  the  most 
complete  and  unobjectionable  manner. 

Signed — George    B.     McClellan,    John    B. 

1  Jarvis,  William  J.  McAlpine,    Silas    Seymour, 

I  Egbert  L.  Viele,  Charles    H.    Haswell,  Julius 

W.  Adams,  H.  G.  Wright,  Sylvauus  H.  Sweet, 

John  Newton,  I.  F.  Quimby. 

Another  report,  still  more  elaborate,  and 
made  by  a  Board  of  engineers  of  equal  emin- 
ence and  ability,  closes  as  follows  : 

Eighty  millions  of  people  cross  the  ferries 
annually  to  the  lower  end  of  the  island,  and 
200,000,000  come  on  railways  and  steamers. 
It  is  for  this  great  multitude,  and  the  myriads 
who  for  years  to  come  will  throng  the  busy 
marts  of  the  world's  great  metropolis,  that  we 
are  to  provide.  What  the  Erie  Canal  was  to 
the  Empire  State  ;  what  the  Pacific  Railway 
will  be  to  the  continent ;  what  the  Atlantic 
cable  is  to  the  world— great  necessities  of  mo- 
dern   civilization — such    will    be    the   Arcade 


Railway  to  the  city  of  New  York  !  And  when 
it  shall  have  been  completed,  and  thronged 
through  all  the  hours  of  the  day  and  night,  in- 
stead of  being  regarded  as  singular  in  concep- 
tion and  a  wonder  in  execution,  the  only  mar- 
vel will  be  ivhy  it  teas  not  done  before. 

WHAT   IS    CLAIMED   BY  ITS   PROJECTORS. 

No  other  city  in  the  world  so  needs  an  ex- 
press railroad  throughout  its  entire  length,  for 
there  is  no  other  city  in  the  world  that  is  so  long 
and  narrow,  confined  by  wide  rivers,  with  the 
business  houses  at  one  end  and  the  residences 
so  far  away  at  the  other,  receding  in  a  direct 
line  farther  and  farther  every  year.  The  Ar- 
cade road  will  possess  these  advantages  : 

1.  It  can  carry  nearly  1,000,000  passengers  a 
day  at  the  highest  practicable  rate  of  speed. 

2.  It  will  combine  all  the  possible  conditions 
of  safety. 

3.  It  will  have  plenty  of  light  and  air. 

■4.  It  will  take  none  of  the  surface  of  the 
island,  and  instead  of  destroying  or  injuring 
property,  will  improve  and  increase  it.  No 
matter  what  remuneration  the  owner  may  re- 
ceive the  destruction  of  property  is  a  public 
injury  and  absolute  loss. 

5.  It  will  have  four  times  the  capacity  of 
any  other  rapid  transit  road.  It  will  equally 
accommodate  way  travel  and  through  travel, 
as  no  double  track  cau  do,  frequent  stoppages 
being  incompatible  with  fast  travel  and  infre- 
quent stoppages  inconvenient  for  way  travel. 

6.  It  will  furnish  to  the  public,  free  of  charge, 
a  convenient  and  always  accessible  vault  for 
all  sewers,  pipes,  wires,  and  other  parapher- 
nalia of  the  distribution  service,  which  have 
Income,  both  in  the  air  and  in  the  ground,  an 
intolerable  nuisance  in  the  down  town  streets, 
and  which  the  Metropolitan  papers  have  earn- 
estly insisted  that  the  city  should  remove  by 
building  subterranean  viaducts  of  enormous 
cost  at  its  own  expense. 

7.  It  will  provide  for  easy  entrance  and  exit. 

And  finally, 

8.  It  will  create  a  new  sub-surface  street  and 
new  sidewalks,  witli  twenty-five  miles  of  new 
stores  and  pleasant  basements,  and  by  removing 
trucks  and  omnibuses  from  the  present  surface 
of  Broadway,  leaving  it  free  for  carriages  on  a 
dry  and  firm  pavement,  will  make  it  the  most 
beautiful  avenue  in  the  world. 

We  end  with  the  question  which  stands  at 
the  head  of  this  article  and  which  must  be 
answered  now,  "  Tunnel  or  Arcade — which  ?" 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


21 


i  88 1-82-83. 


Purchase  of  the  Beach  Pneumatic  Charter  ;    Legislative  Action,  Legal 
Proceedings,  and  Reorganization  of  the  Company. 


New  York  Record  and  Uuide,  June  11,  1881. 

It  seems  the  famous  Arcade  scheme  is  to  be 
revived.  Melville  C.  Smith,  its  originator, 
sometime  since  secured  the  charter  of  the 
Beach  Pneumatic  Tube  through  Broadway, 
and  has  had  that  document  amended  by  the 
Legislature. 

If  Mr.  Smith  can  carry  out  his  programme, 
we  will  have  an  underground  Broadway  80 
feet  wide,  lighted  by  day  with  patent  lights 
and  at  night  witli  the  electric  light  capable  of 
accommodating  through  and  way  trains,  and 
which  would  connect  the  Forty-second  street 
depot  with  the  Battery.  If  carried  out  it  will 
make  Broadway  tl<<  most  valuable  thorough- 
fare in  th>  world,  for  the  hotels  and  great 
stores  will  cluster  on  the  street  which  lias  a 
monopoly  of  delivering  goods  and  passengers 
from  steam  cars  at  their  basement  steps. 

This  enterprise  must  not  be  confounded  with 
the  Central  Underground  road.  The  last  has 
been  on  foot  for  a  great  many  years,  and  every 
few  months  the  daily  press  tells  the  wonderful 
tilings  it  is  going  to  do,  but  so  far  all  its  per- 
formances have  been  in  the  newspapers. 


New  York  World,  June  7,  1881. 

The  bill  extending  the  charter  of  the  under 
ground  road,  which,  as  our  Albany  dispatches 
announce,  has  been  signed  by  the  Governor, 
is  extremely  timely  as  well  as  very  important. 
It  becomes  law  at  a  time  when  it  is  demon- 
strated that  New  York  needs  a  much  more 
comprehensive  and  efficient  system  of  rapid 
transit  than  is  likely  to  be  provided  by  the 
elevated  roads  or  by  any  extension  of  them. 
Rapid  transit  New  York  must  and  will  hare. 


New  York  World,  June  10,  1881. 

The   Broadway  Underground   Extension    Hill. 

On  a  careful  examination  of  the  bill  signed 
by  Governor  Cornell  on  Saturday  night  last,  it 
turns  out  that  it  is  simply  an  extension  of  the 
powers,  with  a  change  in  the  name,  of  the 
Beach  Pneumatic  Transit  Company,  the  char- 
ter of  which  company  is  the  only  charter  ever 
enacted  covt  ring  the  Broadway  route.  It  fol- 
lows from  this  that  the  bill  has  no  connection 
whatever  with  the  old  Central  Underground 
road. 

The  law  just  signed  by  the  Governor  is  re- 
ported to  be  the  result  of  a  combination  be- 
tween Mr.  Melville  C.  Smith  and  others  of  the 
famous  Arcade  Railroad  scheme,  and  Mr. 
Dixon  and  others  of  the  original  Beach  Pneu- 
matic scheme.  Be  this  as  it  may,  the  one 
thing  certain  is  that  the  bill  involves  only  an 
independent  project,  the  authors  of  which  un- 
der it  seems  to  have  acquired  rights  and  to 
have  a  purpose  which  encourages  New  York  to 
expect  at  last  the  long-looked-for  boon  of  safe 
and  complete  rapid  transit. 


New  York  Tribune,  March  28,  1S82. 

Controlling;    an    Underground    Line. 

Governor  Cornell  signed  an  act  on  June  4, 
1881,  extending  the  charter  of  the  Beach  Pneu- 
matic, now  known  as  the  Broadway  Under- 
ground Railway.  The  chief  reason  why  the 
Broadway  Underground  road  has  taken  no 
steps  toward  building  has  been  revealed  in  a 
suit  before  Judge  Arnoux,  in  the  Superior 
Court,  which  was  brought  to  a  close  on  Mon- 
day. 


22 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


New  York  Evening  Telegram,  March  28,  1882. 

Another  of   Joseph    Dixou's   Suits  Dismissed  by 
Judge  Kussell. 

Following  close  upon  the  decision  of  Judge 
Arnoux,  published  in  yesterday's  Telegram,  in 
the  suit  of  Joseph  Dixou  against  Cummings 
and  other  trustees  of  the  Broadway  Under- 
ground Railway  Company,  is  a  decision  ren- 
dered by  Judge  Russell. 


New  York  Evening  Telegram,  June  3,  1882. 

Staking  the  most  of  Broadway. 

Simultaneously  with  the  passage  in  the  Leg- 
islature of  a  bill  devoting  the  surface  of  Broad- 
way to  uses  of  an  old-fashioned  street  railway, 
a  bond  is  tiled  in  the  Comptroller's  office  to 
guarantee  the  completion  of  the  Broadway 
tunnel  enterprise.  The  time  at  length  has 
passed  when  personal  feelings  or  sentimental 
considerations  as  to  the  symmetry  of  Broadway 
could  interdict  what  must  be  regarded  as  a  pub- 
lic necessity.  Experience  has  proved  that  the 
traffic  of  the  primitive  street  car  can  never  be 
superseded  or  materially  impair,  d  by  such  im- 
provements in  the  mode  of  locomotion  as  the 
elevated  tramway  or  the  subterranean  bore. 
Experience  has  also  proved  that  whatever  ap- 
pliance is  calculated  to  facilitate  the  transit  of 
the  inhabitants  and  frequenters  of  this  metro- 
polis, is  destined  to  make  the  buildings  on  its 
Broadway  higher  and  more  resplendent,  to 
make  the  quotations  for  its  lineal  feet  all  the 
more  fabulous,  and  to  lighten  the  general  bur- 
den of  taxation.  Broadway  thus  fulfils  its 
destiny  and  takes  its  place  in  the  general 
march  of  metropolitan  development. 


the  acting  Board  of  Trustees,  of  which  Melville 
C.  Smith  is  president,  the  legal  board  of  The 
Broadway  Underground  Railway  Company, 
and  requiring  Joseph  Dixon  and  others  to  de- 
liver to  the  present  officers  of  the  company  all 
books  and  papers  now  in  then-  possession,  and 
restraining  them  from  attempting  to  act  in  any 
way  pertaining  to  said  company. 

The  Broadway  Underground  Railway  Com- 
pany is  the  successor  of  the  ' '  Beach  Pneuma- 
tic," which  recently  secured  an  extension  of  its 
charter  by  act  of  the  Legislature,  which  covers 
the  right  to  build  a  railway  under  Broadway 
and  Madison  avenue. 

Mr.  Dixon  has  claimed  certain  rights  based 
on  certain  stock  alleged  to  have  been  issued  in 
purchase  of  the  Pneumatic  franchise,  and  with- 
out any  money  being  paid  therefor.  Mr. 
Smith  and  the  other  owners  being  advised  by 
counsel  that  said  stock  was  illegal  and  worth- 
less, authorized  the  issue  of  new  stock  at  par, 
a  large  amount  of  which  was  subscribed  for, 
and  ten  per  cent,  of  the  same  paid  in  in  cash. 
Mr.  Dixon  refused  to  subscribe  or  to  join  in 
this  action. 

This  decision,  in  favor  of  the  present  trustees 
of  the  company,  is  the  last  of  some  halt  dozen 
suits  which  were  brought  by  Mr.  Dixon  and 
based  mainly  on  this  alleged  worthless  stock, 
all  of  which  have  been  decided  adverse  to  Mr. 
Dixon.  The  action  of  the  present  trustees 
having  been  sustained  from  the  beginning  by 
the  courts,  the  company  at  once  employed  en- 
gineers who  have  been  actively  engaged  per- 
fecting maps  and  plans.  It  may  be  reasonably 
hoped  that  now  all  things  pertaining  to  this 
great  enterprise  will  be  pushed  with  additional 
rapidity  and  vigor. 


New  York  Times,  Jan.  2, 1883. 

The  Underground  Railroad. 

A  decision  was  handed  down  by  Judge  Daniels 
in  Special  Term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  yester- 
day, in  the  matter  of  the  petition  of  Joseph 
Dixon  to  set  aside  nn  election  of  Trustees  for 
the  corporation  known  as  the  Broadway  Un- 
derground Railroad  Company.  Judge  Daniels 
denied  the  application  to  set  aside  the  election, 
stating  that  the  present  Board  of  Trustees 
were  lawfully  elected. 


New  York  Record  and  dlnide,  Feb.  3,    1883. 

The     Broadway     Underground     Railroad     Legal 
Obstacles     Removed. 

An  order  has  been  entered  by  the  Supreme 

Court,  through  Mr.  Justice  Daniels,  declaring 


New  York  Times,  March  5,  1883. 

Rapid  Transit   Projects. 

The  adverse  report  of  Commissioners  Bos- 
worth,  O'Brien  and  Holmes,  on  the  application 
of  the  Broadway  Underground  Connecting 
Railway  Company  for  leave  to  construct  a  tun- 
nel railroad  under  Broadway,  has  revived  the 
interest  in  underground  rapid  transit  for  this 
city,  and,  in  the  minds  of  people  who  are  not 
acquainted  with  the  facts,  has  lessened  the 
prospect  of  any  increase  whatever  of  our  rapid 
transit  facilities  in  the  future.  In  truth,  how- 
ever, this  report  of  the  commission  is  of  very 
little  importance,  and,  had  it  been  favorable 
instead  of  adverse,  it  would   have   been   of  no 


Ni:\\    YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


23 


practical  value  in  promoting  the  construction 
of  tm  underground  railroad  by  the  company 

that  made  the  application,  for  the  r«asoii  that 
the  Broadway  Underground  Connecting  Rail- 
way Company,  so  called,  never  had  any  legal 
rights  undt  r  Broadway,  and  on  this  account 
if  on  no  other,  could  never  have  raised  the 
money  to  build  the  road.  The  company  is  the 
offshoot  of  the  old  Central  Underground  Rail- 
way Company,  which  once  had  a  charter  from 
the  Legislature,  hut,  like  many  other  charters 
for  quick  transit,  it  came  to  nought  from  lack 
of  ability  on  the  part  of  the  company  to  raise 
funds  to  build  the  road.  It  is  a  legal  question 
whether  tin  charter  tin*  not  lapsedlong  since, 
but,  whether  it  has  or  not,  it  never  gave  the 
company  a  right  of  way  under  Broadu  ay  :  it  did 
/in/  even  touch  Broudieay,  or  any  part  of  it, 
but  the  route  lay  through  City  Hall  place,  Mul- 
berry street,  across  blocks  to  Lafayette  place, 
thence  to  Fourth  avenue,  thence  through  blocks 
to  Twenty-third  street,  and  thence  through  Ma- 
dison avenue  to  the  Harlem  River.  Its  right  to 
change  its  route  to  Broadway  was  claimed  to  be 
derived  from  the  provisions  of  the  Hudson 
River  Tunnel  bill,  which  passed  the  Legislature 
long  after  the  Central  Underground  charter, 
and  which  those  who  passed  it  never  dreamed 
was  to  be  used  for  this  purpose.  Whether  a 
forced  construction  of  this  tunnel  bill  would 
permit  underground  railroads  to  be  built  all 
ovt  r  Nt  w  York,  as  some  have  claim*  d,  may  be 
a  question  for  lawyers,  but,  so  far  as  Broad- 
way is  cone*  rned,  all  such  privileges  are  cut 
off  by  another  charter  that  jiassed  the  Legis- 
lature, granting  the  specific  right  to  run  undt  r 
Broadway  from  the  Battery  to  Madison 
Square,  with  branches  extending  further  up 
Broadway  to  its  junction  with  Eighth  avenue, 
and  up  Madison  avenut  to  Harlem  River. 
This  charter  is  still  alive  and  valid,  having 
got  an  extension  signed  by  Oov.  Cornell  as 
late  as  1881.  The  company  now  organized 
under  this  charter  is  called  the  Broadway 
Underground  Railway  Company,  Melville  C. 
Smith,  President,  and  has  offices  in  the  Boreel 
Building,  where",  for  the  last  eight  months, 
it  has  had  half  a  dozen  engineers  at  work 
drawing  maps  and  plans  preparatory  to  the 
construction  of  its  road.  It  has  had  no  oc- 
casion to  apply  to  the  court  for  a  commission  to 
determine  whether  it  ought  to  be  allowed  to 
build  a  road  under  Broadway,  for  it  already  has 
that  right  from  the  Legislature.  Its  legal  and 
financial  status,  with  a  full  description  of  the 
kind  of  an  underground  road  which  it  proposes 
to  build,  was  published  in  The  Times  on  June 


26th  last,  and  since  that  tone  the  company  has 

been  steadily  at  work  perfecting  its  plans. 

A  reporter  of  the  ZYmesoalledat  the  office  of 
the  President  of  the  company  on  Saturday  to 
learn  what,  if  anything,  he  had  to  say  about 
the  report  of  the  Commissioners  denying  the 
application  of  the  rival  company.  In  response 
to  the  inquiry  Mr.  Smith  said  that  the  company 
of  which  he  was  President  had  taken  very  little 
interest  iii  the  commission,  knowing  that  its 
decision,  whatever  it  might  be,  could  have  no 
practical  result;  "but  since  the  report  was 
published,"  said  he,  "we  have  had  it  forced  on 
OUT  attention,  and  it  has  occasioned  us  annoy- 
ance by  people  running  in  to  inquire  if  the  de- 
cision of  the  Commissioners  would  put  a  stop 
to  our  enterprise.  The  similarity  of  the  names 
of  the  companies  has  misled  people,  and  many 
have  thought  that  the  commission  was  ap- 
pointed on  our  application,  and  that  the  adverse 
decision  might  put  an  end  to  any  railroad  under 
Broadway.  I  have  read  the  report  of  the  Com- 
missioners very  carefully,  and  I  must  say  that 
it  is  a  sensible  report,  and  I  am  glad  it  was 
made  and  published.  It  contains  sound  argu- 
ments against  the  kind  of  road  that  the  Broad- 
way Underground  Connecting  Railway  Com- 
pany, so  called,  proposed  to  build,  or  against 
any  tunnel  road,  iu  fact.  They  are  tin  sunn 
arguments  that  I  have  urged  and  trial  to  im- 
press upon  the  public  ever  since  Tfirstproject- 
i  (I  tin  Arcudi  plan  of  a  road  under  Broadway. 
I  fully  concur  with  the  Commissioners  that 
such  a  road,  simply  intended  to  '  whisk  '  people 
through  a  dark  hole  from  the  lower  end  of  New 
York  up  into  Westchester  county,  would  be  of 
doubtful  utility  to  the  traveling  public,  of  no 
advantage  whatever  to  the  city  or  to  property- 
owners  on  the  route,  that  it  would  not  compen- 
sate for  the  inconvenience  attending  its  con- 
struction, and  that  it  ought  not  to  be  built. 
This  company  does  not  propose  to  build  any 
such  road  if  it  can  avoid  it,  and  if  the  Commis- 
sioners who  made  that  report  will  call  at  this 
office  and  examine  our  plan  of  a  road  under 
Broadway  they  will  find  nearly  all  the  objections 
in  their  report  fully  answered,  and,  although 
we  are  in  no  way  dependent  on  their  opinion, 
I  would  almost  be  willing,  after  such  an  exami- 
nation, to  submit  to  their  decision  whether  our 
road  ought  to  be  built  or  not.  It  is  true,  as  the 
Commissioners  suggest,  that  a  road  which  is  to 
cause  inconvenience  and  possible  damage  to 
property-owners  in  its  construction,  ought  to 
provide  some  compensating  benefits,  and  that 
the  city  is  also  entitled  to  derive  some  advantage 
from  the  franchise,  if  it  be  of  any  value.     The 


24 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


road  we  propose  to  build  will  amply  fulfill  both 
of  these  conditions.  For  the  property-owners 
on  its  line  it  will  add  at  least  one-third  to  the 
value  of  their  properly,  while  to  the  city  it  will 
provide  another  Broadway  scarcely  less  valuable 
and  important  than  the  one  it  now  has.  It  w  ill 
duplicate  the  capacity  for  business  and  travel 
on  that  thoroughfare,  and  provide  a  road-bed 
that  need  never  be  torn  up  or  disturbed  until  it 
is  worn  out,  and  which  will  be  far  superior  to 
any  road-bed  the  street  ever  had.  It  will  also 
provide  a  vault  or  conduit  in  which  the  water- 
mains,  gas-pipes,  etc.,  can  all  be  placed,  ami 
where  they  will  be  accessible  for  repairs  with- 
out disturbing  the  street.  This  is  an  improve- 
ment that  all  admit  will  have  to  be  made  sooner 
or  later,  and  which  the  city  would  he  compelled 
to  make  at  a  very  heavy  expense  to  taxpayers, 
(mil  with  hi i,k, si  as  great  inconvenience  to 
travel  as  would  result  from  the  building  of 
our  road.  ****** 

We  propose,  in  a  word,  to  make  a  new  Broad- 
way under  the  present  one,  witli  ample  side- 
walks, with  four  tracks  for  passenger  and  freight 
traffic  i  Hi'  freight  to  6<  carried  in  the  ui<jlit\ 
and  with  a  safe  and  accessible  conduit  for  the 
pipes  of  all  kinds  that  arc  now  rusting  and  cor- 
roding in  the  dirt  under  Broadway.  We  could 
build,  for  half  the  money  that  OUT  plan  will  cost 
us,  a  tunnel  road  of  the  kind  rejected  by  the 
commission,  but  we  agree  with  the  Commis- 
sioners thai  such  a  road  ought  not  to  be  built. 
We  maintain  thai  any  scheme  for  additional 
rapid  transit  in  tins  city  should  be  far-reaching 
in  its  design  and  of  capacity  sufficient  to  meet 
all  future  requirements  of  the  city.  We  also 
recognize  the  fact  that  it  siiould  not  encroach 
upon  the  rights  of  private  property-owners 
or  be  built  at  their  expense.  Accordingly  we 
hare  adopted  a  plan  that  will  benefit  instead 
of  injure  private  property;  that  will  save  the 
city  incalculable  expense  in  the  future;  that 
will  provide  the  public  with  safe,  easy  and  rapid 
transit  from  one  end  of  the  city  to  the  other, 
and  that  will  make  Broadway,  in  which  all 
New  Yorkers  take  pride,  the  finest  thoroughfare 
in  the  world.         *  *  * 

In  order  to  enable  us  to  carry  out  all  the 
details  of  our  plan,  as  now  perfected,  our 
lawyers  think  we  will  need  a  slight  modifi- 
cation of  our  charter.  We  intend  to  apply  to 
the  present  Legislature  for  such  modification. 
and  trust  we  will  receive  the  support  of  the 
public  and  the  press  in  our  application.  If  we 
cannot  get  it  we  shall  go  on  and  build  the  best 
road  that  we  can  under  the  provisions  of  our 
present  charter. " 


>ew  York  Evening  Post,  March  28, 1883. 

The  Proposed  Arcade  Railroad— Some   Features 
of  the  Plans— Statements  of  Melville  C.  Smith. 

Despatches  from  Albany  announce  that  the 
Assembly  Committee  on  Cities  is  giving  favor- 
able consideration  to  the  bill  modifying  the 
charter  of  the  Broadway  Underground  Rail- 
road Company,  so  as  to  permit  the  construc- 
tion of  the  road  on  the  Arcade  plan.  In  view 
of  this  fact  a  reporter  of  the  Evening  Post 
to-day  asked  some  questions  of  Mr.  Melville 
C.  Smith,  the  President  of  the  company, 
which  has  offices  in  the  Boreel  Building.  Mr. 
Smith  said  that  the  company  still  adhered  to 
the  claim  that  it  had  a  full  legal  right  to  be- 
gin the  construction  of  a  tunnel  road  under 
Broadway  at  any  time,  under  its  present  char- 
ter, which  is  the  amended  charter  of  the  old 
"Beach  Pneumatic  Tunnel."  It  much  pre- 
ferred, however,  to  build  an  arcade  road,  and 
that  was  the  only  kind  of  an  underground  rail- 
road with  which  he  was  willing  to  be  connect- 
ed. H  authority  to  build  such  a  road  was  re- 
fused, he  would  sell  out  his  interest  in  the 
matter  to  the  men  who  wanted  to  build  a  two- 
track  tunnel.  Such  a  tunnel  would  be  simply 
an  enlarged  woodchuck's  hole,  through  which 
people  could  be  whisked  up  to  Westches- 
ter county.  It  would  be  of  no  benefit  to 
Broadway  property,  but  an  injury,  and  if  he 
was  an  owner  of  such  property  he  would  make 
haste  to  sell  it,  in  case  such  a  road  was  deter- 
mined upon.  On  the  other  hand,  he  would 
gladly  join  a  syndicate  to  buy  Broadway  prop- 
erty, if  an  underground  road  was  constructed 
on  the  Arcade  system. 


New  York  Herald,  April  15,  1883. 

The  I'nderground  Railway  Hill. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  prop  ised  Broad- 
way Underground  Railroad  will  confer  decid- 
ed benefits  upon  the  New  York  public,  if  in 
framing  the  necessary  bill  the  Legislature  re- 
strains its  inclination  to  insert,  for  the  benefit 
of  political  schemers,  certain  reprehensible 
clauses,  and  if  it  properly  guards  public  and 
private  interests  connected  with  the  proposed 
road. 


Xew  York  Times.  April  18, 1883. 

The  bill  extending  the  franchises  of  the 
Broadway  Underground  Railway  Company 
passed  the  Assembly  yesterday.  It  author- 
izes the  Arcade  plan  for  the  construction  of  its 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


25 


line.  It  is  a  fascinating  idea,  that  of  a  well- 
ventilated  and  well-lighted  basement  story  to 
Broadway,  in  which  there  should  lie  lour  rail- 
road tracks  for  express,  way,  aud  freight  trains 
propelled  without  steam  locomotives,  side- 
walks for  pedestrians,  and  accessible  vaults  for 
all  the    underground  pipes. 


New  York  Evening  Post,  April  18, 1888. 

The  Broadway  Arcade  Railroad  bill,  which 
passed  the  Assembly  yesterday,  provides  for 
the  construction  of  an  underground  passage- 
way from  the  Battery  to  Harlem  River  under 
Broadway  and  Madison  Avenue.  The  plan 
was  described  in  our  columns  so  recently  that 
it  need  not  be  again  set  forth  in  detail.  While 
the  bill  may  be  defective  in  not  securing  to 
the  city  a  percentage  of  the  gross  receipts,  aud 
in  other  particulars,  we  think  that  the  convic- 
tion is  general  that  an  underground  system  of 
communication  between  the  northern  and 
southern  extremities  of  the  Manhattan  Island 
will  soon  be  a  necessity,  and  that  if  capitalists 
can  be  found  who  are  williug  to  embark  in  a 
venture  of  such  magnitude,  they  ought  not  to 
be  met  in  a  churlish  spirit.  The  incidental 
advantages  of  a  subway  along  the  proposed 
route,  for  the  conveyance  of  pipes,  tubes, 
wires,  and  sewers  will  be  second  only  to  those 
attained  by  a  new  mode  of  rapid  transit  for 
persons  and  property. 


New  York  Star,  April  18,  1883. 

Anybody  who  watches  the  stream  of  vehi- 
cles continually  passing  up  and  down  Broad- 
way need  not  be  informed  that  any  plan  which 
would  relieve  the  perilous  press  of  traffic,  and 
at  the  same  time  furnish  facilities  for  speedy 
travel  without  inflicting  damage  on  contiguous 
proj:>erty,  should  be  welcomed  as  an  undis- 
guised blessing.  These  conditions,  and  more, 
the  projectors  of  the  Arcade  Railway  promise 
to  fulfill.        ******* 


New  York  Times,  April  19,  1883. 

We  have  endeavored  to  obtain  some  expres- 
sion of  opiuion  from  those  interested  in  prop- 
erty and  business  along  the  line  of  Broadway 
regarding  the  project  for  an  arcade  railway 
beneath  its  surface.  In  most  cases  they  ap- 
pear to  be  opposed  to  it,  but  we  are  bound  to 
say  that  they  very  generally  show  little  knowl- 


edge, or  an  entire  misconception  of  tin- char- 
acter of  the  project  and  what  is  claimed  in  its 

behalf.       It  Can     hardly     be    denied  that    if   the 

thing  were  an  accomplished  fact  it  would  af- 
ford great  relief  to  the  pressure  on  Broadway 
for  transit  purpose,  and  would  add  greatly  to 
the  value  of  property  on  that  thorough  I  a  re, 
but  is  it  practicable  ?  The  projectors  say  that 
all  the  necessary  capital  is  available,  all  the 
engineering  difficulties  have  been  considered 
and  can  be  overcome,  there  will  be  absolute] j 
no  damage  to  property  and  no  interruption  to 
travel  during  construction,  and  a  multitude  of 
advantages  will  be  secured.  Suppose  the  busi- 
ness men  take  the  trouble  to  look  into  it 
carefully. 


New  York  Sunday  Mercury,  April  22,  1883. 

The:  Arcaile  Railroad 

People  have  had  another  hearing  before  the 
Railroad  Committee  of  the  Senate  and  have 
made  a  favorable  impression.  The  only  oppo- 
sition now  seems  to  come  from  O.  B.  Potter, 
who  is  reported  to  have  invested  in  the  pur- 
chase of  the  old  Central  Underground  charter, 
which  proposed  to  lay  a  tunnel  through  Centre 
and  Marion  streets  to  Lexington  avenue,  raising 
the  level  of  Centre  street  very  considerably  for 
nearly  its  entire  length.  As  the  Arcade  road 
will  have  four  times  the  capacity  of  any  other 
rapid  transit  line,  will  bring  passengers  and 
freight  from  San  Francisco  to  the  Battery  on 
its  standard  gauge,  will  create  a  new  sub-sur- 
face street  with  twenty-five  miles  of  new  stores 
and  basements,  leave  Broadway  free  for  car- 
riages, and  will  inj  lire  neither  public  nor  private 
properly,  while  it  combines  all  the  possible 
conditions  of  safetyT  and  speed,  and  inasmuch 
as  it  can  be  constructed  without  interruption 
to  travel,  it  is  believed  that  it  will  be  approv- 
ed by  the  Senate  and  the  Governor  as  the-most 
feasible  and  permanent  solution  of  the  prob  - 
lem  of  real  rapid  transit  in  New  York. 


New  York  Sunday  Mercury,  April  29,  1883. 

The  New  Rapid  Transit  Scheme. 

As  predicted  bv  the  Mercury,  the  Assembly 
gave  its  approving  vote  to  the  Underground 
Railroad  bill,  which  permits  the  corporation, 
already  chartered  by  act  of  Legislature,  to 
change  its  tunnel  plan  to  a  scheme  which  pro- 
poses a  street  under  Broadway,  with  ample 
sidewalks,  light  and  ventilation,  four  tracks  in 
the  centre  and  vaults  beneath   for  sewers,  gas 


26 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


and  water-pipes  and  telegraph  wires.  As  it 
does  not  create  a  corporation  or  bestow  pi-ivi- 
leges,  but  merely  modifies  privileges  already 
granted,  the  question  of  franchise  could  not 
enter  into  the  discussion. 


element  of  utility  and  beauty,  thus  affording 
New  York  better  accommodations  for  its  trade 
and  travel  than  a,rc  enjoyed  by  any  city  in  th< 
world. 


New  York  Record  and  Guide,  May  26,  1883. 

The  Broadway  Underground  Kail  way. 

The  Legislature  adjourned  without  passing 
the  amendments  to  the  charter  of  the  Broad- 
way Underground  road  which  its  projectors 
thought  were  needed,  there  has  been  some  cu- 
riosity expressed  as  to  what  the  company 
woidd  now  do.  Some  light  is  thrown  upon 
this  by  the  following  interview  with  the  pres- 
ident, Mr.  Melville  C.  Smith  : 

"What  effect  will  the  failure  to  obtain 
amendments  to  your  charter  by  the  recent 
Legislature  have  upon  the  railway  project  of 
your   company  ?" 

Mr.  Smith  :  "  It  will  make  no  material  dif- 
ference, I  think,  as  to  the  final  result. 

"  Then  you  are  not  at  all  discouraged  by  the 
action  of  the  Legislature?" 

Mr.  Smith  :  "We  are  not,  nor  particularly 
disappointed  even.  The  facts  are,  that  the 
various  suits  brought  against  us  by  the  par- 
ties holding  worthless  stock,  for  which  the 
company  had  never  received  any  money  equiv- 
alent, were  not  fully  determined  in  our  favor 
until  March,  leaving  us  free  from  debts  and 
legal  diffiulties.  The  legislative  session  was  then 
so  far  advanced  that  we  were  in  doubt  whether 
to  introduce  the  bill,  and  were  only  able  to 
do  so  in  time  to  prevent  a  single  objection  keep- 
ing it  from  being  advanced  on  the  legislative 
record.  Of  course  we  had  no  time  to  explain 
tin  details  of  our  arcade  plan  to  members  of 
the  press,  and  thus  reach  and  inform  the  pub- 
lic of  the  nature  of  the  changes  which  we  de- 
sired to  make.  We  felt  confident  that  these, 
if  understood,  would  be  favored  not  only  by 
the  owners  of  property  along  the  line  of  our 
road  but  by  the  public  generally.  Consider- 
ing the  circumstances,  the  proposed  change 
from  a  tunnel  to  an  arcade  railway  was  receiv- 
ed with  unexpected  and,  so  far  as  understood, 
universal  approval. 

' '  Then  you  expect  to  determine  upon  a  plan 
of  action  soon,  and  in  any  event  build  the 
road  ?" 

Mr.  Smith  •  ' '  Certainly  we  do  !  We  shall 
build  a  road  under  Broadway,  and  if  aided  by 
an  intelligent  public  opinion,  will  enlarge 
and  improvt  our  plan  in  n$  to  nmbrare  wry 


New  York  Herald,  Oct.  10,  1883. 

Broadway  Underground  Railway. 

The  stockholders  of  the  Broadway  Under- 
ground Railway  Company  held  an  annual 
meeting  yesterday  at  the  offices  of  the  com- 
pany, in  the  Boreel  Building,  and  elected  the 
following  Board  of  Directors  to  serve  for  the 
ensuing  year:  Ex-Secretary  Wm.  Windom, 
ex-United  States  Treasurer  Jas.  Gilfillan,  Mel- 
ville C.  Smith,  Jerome  Fassler,  H.  C.  Gardiner 
and  Jno.  Cummins.  Later  the  directors  organ- 
ized by  electing  Mr.  Smith  president,  Mr. 
Windom  vice-president,  Mr.  Gilfillan.  treasurer 
and  Mr.  Cummins,  secretary.  President  Smith 
said  that  the  company  had  its  maps  and  plans 
all  perfected  for  a  four-track  road  under  Broad- 
way from  the  Battery  to  Westchester  county. 
About  nine  feet  more  in  width  will  be  needed 
to  carry  out  the  present  plan.  The  franchises 
of  all  rival  companies  have  been  bought  or 
merged.  He  had  spent  the  summer  in  London, 
studying  the  underground  system  there  with 
two  engineers,  whom  he  took  with  him.  Mr. 
William  J.  McAlpine,  the  well-known  engi- 
neer, had  just  been  sent  over  to  make  a  tho- 
rough investigation  of  the  London  system. 


>ew  York  Tribnne.  Dec.  10.  1883. 

A  Talk  About  the  Broadway  Arcade— President 
M.  C.  Smith  Kncouraged  by  his  study  of  the 
London  Underground  Road. 

Sitting  in  his  office  in  the  Boreel  building  on 
Saturday,  Melville  C.  Smith,  president  of  the 
Broadway  Underground  Railway  Company, 
chatted  with  a  Tribune  reporter  regarding  his 
recent  visit  to  Europe. 

"  We  found  from  our  investigations,"  said 
Mr.  Smith,  "  that  we  could  hereafter  easily 
meet  the  objections  urged  against  an  under- 
ground road  in  Broadway.  For  instance,  one 
of  them  most  frequently  made  is  the  effect  of 
vibrations  upon  the  foundations  of  adjacent 
buildings.  In  London  the  underground  roads 
cover  a  circuit  of  some  twenty  miles,  and  of 
course  they  had  to  contend  with  all  sorts  of 
obstacles  and  obstructions.  The  road  passes 
under  streets,  squares,  blocks  of  buildings, 
churches,  immense  breweries  filled  with  grain, 
and   in  on«   r)a««    directly  under  »  monument 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


27 


weighing  nearly  200  tons,  the  resull  being,  as 
the  ohief  engineer  said  to  me,  '  our  road  extends 

some  twenty  miles,  has  been  in  operation 
nearly  a  score  of  years,  and  we  have  not  injured 
the  wall  of  any  building,  nor  had  to  pay  a  dol- 
lar damages.'  It  has  been  shown  by  indisput- 
able proofs,  by  tests  with  quicksilver  placed  in 
the  second  story  of  buildings,  that  the  jar  and 
vibration  from  trains  of  cars  running  on  the 
earth  air  less  than  are  produced  by  an  ordinary 
vehicle  running  over  the  street  pavement.  As 
the  proposed  arcade  railway  would  not  run 
within  eighteen  feet  of  any  building — there  be- 
ing first  the  width  of  the  sidewalk,  eighteen 
feet— and  then  the  way  track  for  slow  trains, 
the  centre  of  the  street  only  being  need  for 
rapid  transit — it  will  readily  be  seen  that  there 
could  not  be  the  least  possible  disturbance  or 
danger  to  the  adjacent  buildings. 

"  Now,  as  to  the  strength  of  our  structure, " 
continued  Mr.  Smith,  "  the  width  of  Broadway 
is  80  feet,  and  in  one  place  we  had  contemplated 
a  row  of  iron  columns  in  the  centre  of  the 
street.  In  Loudon,  roadways,  public  squares 
and  even  heavy  buildings  are  supported  by  cast 
iron  girders,  and  in  many  instances  the  span 
exceeds  50  feet.  As  the  result  of  our  examin- 
ations there,  our  engineers  are  of  the  opinion 
that  their  previous  estimates  for  the  sustaining 
power  of  the  iron  work  have  been  considerably 


greater  than  necessary,  and  that  the  center  tier 

of  columns  will  not  be  required, 

"  The  depression  at  Canal  street,  which  is 
frequently  spoken  of,  cannot  compare  wit h  like 
difficulties  in  London.  At  Canal  street  it  is  11 
feel  8  inches  to  high-water  mark,  while  the  en- 
tire depth  of  the  Arcade  would  be  less  than  18 
feet.  The  depression  in  Broadway  is  short, while 
in  London  the  road  is  constructed  for  long 
distances  more  than  20  feet  below  the  river 
Thames.  High  grades  on  the  London  road 
are  quite  frequent,  and  in  some  instances  they 
are  one  foot  in  forty  feet; — far  greater  than  any 
grades  on  our  road. 

"  They  claim  to  run  at  the  rate  of  about 
twenty-five  miles  an  hour  on  the  London  un- 
derground road,  but  they  have  to  make  fre- 
quent stops,  as  they  accommodate  way  and 
through  travel  on  the  same  track.  The  Arcade 
road  will  provide  perfect  accommodation  for 
way  travel  ;  the  depots  on  the  track  for  through 
travel  will  be  about  a  mile  apart,  and  the  trains 
will  make  thirty  miles  per  hour.  As  this  is 
much  more  than  twice  the  rate  of  speed  of 
which  the  elevated  roads  are  capable,  and  as 
eight  cars  or  more  to  a  train  can  be  drawn  on 
the  solid  ground,  while  the  air-roads  never 
have  more  than  four,  it  would  make  the  capa- 
city of  a  single  track  on  the  Arcade  more  than 
four  of  the  elevated. " 


28 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


1884. 

Wokk  Accomplished  by  the  Company,  and  Legislative  Proceedings. 


New  York  Snn,  January  24,  1884. 

Compared  with  London'-  Tunnel- — President 
Smith  thinks  the  IJroadway  Arcade  will  be 
very  easily  built. 

There  are  very  few  horizontal  holes  in  the 
earth  which  cannot  be  found  pictured  and 
diagrammed  in  the  offices  of  the  Broadway 
Underground  Railway  Company  in  the  Boreel 
building.  The  exceptions  are  those  which  were 
not  made  by  the  hand  of  man,  and  may  be  the 
catacombs  and  a  few  other  subteranean  works 
of  an  early  date.  President  Smith,  Chief  Engi- 
neer McAlpine,  and  others  connected  with  the 
company  visited  the  Old  World  a  few  months 
ago,  and  they  brought  back  maps  upon  maps 
of  underground  London  and  Paris.  President 
Smith  is  an  enthusiast,  and  if  it  occurs  to  him 
that  he  can  learn  something  by  floating 
through  tin  sewers  of  Paris  that  will  be  of 
service  to  him  in  building  a  railroad  under 
Broadway,  off  he  goes  to  Paris  and  down  into 
its  sewers.  "  The  more  I  see  of  other  works," 
he  said  yesterday,  "  the  more  I  am  in  favor  not 
of  tunneling  Broadway,  but  of  tmildiug  the 
Arcade  railway  in  that  thoroughfare.  I  would 
rather  build  the  Arcadt  and  leave  Broadway 
at  its  completion  the  most  splendid  thorough- 
fare in  the  world,  though  I  should  not  gain 
a  cent  of  profit,  than  to  construct  a  tunru  I 
under  that  street. 

In  a  report  just  submitted  to  the  company, 
Engineer  McAlpine  says  that  the  London  un- 
derground railway,  known  as  the  "  Inner  Cir- 
cle," a  loop  inclosing  about  seven  square 
miles  in  the  heart  of  the  British  metropolis,  is 
constructed  beneath  the  foundations  of  build- 
ings for  more  than  two-thirds  of  its  length, 
while  the  proposed  Arcade  railway  is  to  be  in 
no  part  under  any  building;  that  in  London 
the  sewers  and  other  obstacles  encountered 
added  greatly  to  the  difficulty  of  the  work, 
while  there  are  no  continuous  sewers  in  Broad- 
way; that  the  grades  of  the  London  road  are 
very  undulating,  while    those  in  this  city  will 


be  very  slight,  and  that  he  has  come  upon 
many  other  facts  and  details  concerning  the 
construction  of  the  London  underground 
roads  which  cover,  in  a  practical  way,  obsta- 
cles and  objections  of  a  far  more  difficult  char- 
acter than  any  which  will  be  encountered  in 
the  railway  under  Broadway. 

One  of  the  colored  plates  made  in  London 
shows  the  details  of  the  construction  of  the 
road  where  it  runs  beneath  a  monument  which 
weighs  180  tons.  The  heavy  shaft  now  stands 
on  the  arched  roof  of  the  railway  tunnel. 

"  The  '  Inner  Circle  '  in  London,"  said  Pres- 
dent  Smith,  "is  such  a  tuuel  as  we  would 
have  if  we  were  to  rnu  our  road  under  this 
building,  across  Broadway,  in  a  loop  beneath 
the  big  buildings  of  lower  New  York  and  back 
to  this  point,  a  dozen  miles  in  all.  The  ob- 
stacles to  be  overcome  here  are  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  those  which  have  been  overcome 
there.  The  cost  here  will  be  light  compared 
with  the  cost  there." 


New  York  Times,  Feb.  25,  1 884. 

Subways  and  Kapid  Transit. 

The  bill  extending  the  charter  of  the  under- 
ground railway,  as  introduced  into  the  As- 
sembly on  Thursday,  has  one  good  feature. 
//  provides  that  tht  tunnel  for  Ira  flic  shall 
Ik  arranged  so  as  also  to  take  the  setver, 
gas  mains  and  watt  r  pipes.  The  construction 
of  subways  especially  for  this  purpose,  would, 
of  course,  be  more  costly  than  the  incidental 
use  of  tunnels  constructed  for  another  purpose. 
Nevertheless,  if  all  the  systems  of  subterranean 
communication  were  grouped,  it  would,  we 
believe,  be  found  that  the  annual  cost  of  laying 
and  repairing,  now  made  necessary  by  their 
inaccessibility,  would  pay  a  reasonable  interest 
on  the  prime  cost  of  special  subways.  At  any 
rate,  the  rents  of  subways  should  be  made  to 
pay  interest  on  their  cost,  and  the  surface  of 
the  streets  which  they  traverse  shonld  be  kept 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


29 


inviolable.  As  an  adjunct  to  uu  underground 
roiii/  tin  subway  would  bea  source  of  almost 
clear  profit,  and  to  this  profit  the  city,  at  the 
expense  of  which  if  is  proposed  that  tht  fran- 
chise for  construction  shall  begiven,  is  fairly 
i  nl'illi  il. 


N.  Y.  Record  and  Guide,  March  1,  1884. 

The  New  York  Arcade  Railway. 

The  bill  now  before  the  Legislature  em- 
powering flu  construction  of  an  Arcade  road 
under  Broadway  instead  of  a  tunnel,  is  of 
tin  first  importance  to  owners  of  property  on 
that  great  thoroughfare,  as  well  as  to  the  en- 
tin  population  of  Neiv  York  city.  Wepre- 
sent  our  reach  rs  this  week  with  the  report  of 
Chief  Engineer  William  J.  Mr  Alpine,  in 
which  mi  exhaustive  comparison  is  made  be- 
tween the  proposed  Arcade,  road  and  the  un- 
derground railways  of  London.  From  this 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  engineering  difficulties 
presented  by  the  former  are  not  by  any  means 
as  great  as  those  encountered  in  the  English 
capital.  The  value  of  the  Arcade  road  to  New 
York  cannot  be  over  estimated.        *  * 

The  experience  of  the  past  has  invariably 
shown  that  wherever  the  greatest  facilities  for 
transportation  exist,  there  trade  concentrates 
and  property  increases  in  value,  and  when 
the  Arcade  road  is  built,  such  a  centralization 
of  business  will  follow  on  its  track  as  to  make 
the  real  estate  through  which  it  runs  incom- 
parably more  valuable  than  at  present. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

There  is  but  one  barrier  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  more  perfect  road,  and  that  is  a 
modification  of  the  charter  granted  in  1881 
authorizing  the  building  of  a  tunnel,  so  as  to 
permit  of  its  construction  on  the  Arcade  plan. 
Broadway  is  now  crowded  with  drays,  carts 
and  vehicles  of  every  description,  making  it 
impassable  at  most  parts  of  the  day.  Besides, 
rapid  transit  is  urgently  required,  so  that  the 
tens  of  thousands  who  travel  daily  to  and  from 
all  parts  of  Broadway  and  the  city  should  be 
able  to  do  so  expeditiously.  It  is  absolutely 
necessary,  therefore,  that  some  relief  should 
soon  be  afforded  by  a  cable,  elevated  or  under- 
ground railway.  It  is  contended  that  the  first 
would  probably  be  too  dangerous  to  life  and 
not  give  sufficient  speed,  while  the  second  is 
objectionable  and  ruinous.  There  is  only  the 
one  road  left,  and  it  is  for  the  people  of  this 
city  to  pronounce  whether  this  shall  be  a 
dark,  stuffy  tunnel,  which  will  scarcely  su- 
percede the  requirements  of  a   single  genera- 


tion, or  a  handsome,  light,  airy  Arcadt ,  which 
shall  increase  the  valut  of  the  property  on  its 
route,  and  afford  transportation  facilities  for 
passengers  and  freight    of  almost    unlimited 

capacity.  The  press  of  New  York  city  has 
over  and  over  spoken  favorably  of  tliis  mag- 
nificent enterprise  which  will  make  Broadway 
the  greatest  street  in  the  world,  and  thert  can 
be  no  doubt  of  the  verdict  of  the  people. 
Should  the  Legislature  fail  to  authorize  the 
arcade  plan,  there  will  be  nothing  left  for  the 
company  but  to  reluctantly  proceed  with  tin' 
tunnel.  It  is  imperatively  necessary  therefore, 
that  the  press  of  this  city  and  the  property 
owners  interested  should  see  to  it  that  New 
York  shall  receive  the  advantage  of  an  Arcade 
railway  which  will  increase  the  value  of  realty 
and  give  New  York  a  road  unequaled  in  his- 
tory, instead  of  a  tunnel  which  will  neither  en- 
hance the  value  of  property  along  its  route 
nor  permanently  meet  the  wants  of  our  great 
and  ever-growing  metropolis. 


New  York  Evening  Post,  March  3,  1884. 

The  Hroadway  Railway  Project. 

The  President  of  the  Broadway  Underground 
Bailway  Company,  Mr.  Melville  C.  Smith,  has 
sent  a  circular  letter  to  the  owners  and  lessees 
of  property  on  Broadway.  In  his  letter  he 
says: 

"  The  tunnel  road  now  authorized  by  law,  and 
which,  if  other  provisions  are  not  made,  will  as- 
suredly be  built,  would  mainly  serve  the  business 
interests  at  the  lower  end  of  the  island,  and  the  far 
off  residences  at  the  upper  extreme,  and  thus  Broad- 
way would  be  largely  given  over,  not  to  say  sacri- 
ficed, to  drays,  carts,  and  other  obstructive  vehi- 
cles, which  now  gorge  its  surface,  and  to  lightning 
trains  underneath  ;  and  neither  this  kind  of  travel 
on  the  upper  street,  nor  the  tunnel  below,  used  to 
whisk  people  to  and  from  Westchester  county, 
woidd  contribute  in  any  material  degree  to  the 
value  of  Broadway  property. 

"The  Arcade  Kailway,  on  the  contrary,  would 
duplicate  Broadway  with  a  sub-surface  street,  well 
lighted  and  ventilated  ;  would  change  the  dark  cel- 
lars into  basement  stores,  fronting  on  pleasant 
sidewalks  ;  would  provide  vaidts,  ample  and  acces- 
sible for  all  pipes  and  wires,  thus  avoiding  the  ne- 
cessity of  tearing  up  the  street ;  would  have  four 
tracks — two  for  way  and  two  for  through  travel — 
and  during  night  two  of  these  tracks  may  be  de- 
voted exclusively  to  freight  and  express,  which 
could  be  conveniently  distributed  anywhere  along 
the  route. 

"  This   company  has  the  undisputed  right,  by 


30 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PKESS. 


special  charter  confirmed  by  the  Legislature  of 
1881,  to  build  a  tunnel  road  under  Broadway  j  its 
bond  required  by  law  has  been  accepted  by  the 
city,  and  we  are  prepared  and  shall  construct  the 
Tunnel  road  as  authorized,  unless  the  Legislature, 
in  its  wisdom,  shall  substitute  the  far  better  plan  of 
the  Arcade." 


New  York  Times,  March  9, 1884. 

Local  Transit. 

There  is  pi-essing  need  of  additional  facul- 
ties for  local  transit  in  this  city.  Perhaps  the 
the  most  conspicuous  need  is  means  of  real 
rapid  transit  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  end 
of  the  city.  This  has  not  yet  been  secured. 
Owing  to  the  shape  of  the  city  this  distance  is 
a  very  long  one,  and  means  should  be  provided 
for  traversing  it  at  the  highest  practicable 
rate  of  speed  for  what  may  be  called  through 
travel.  The  elevated  railroads  do  not  furnish 
rapid  transit  in  any  proper  sense  of  the  term. 
The  speed  of  their  trains  does  not  at  any  time 
exceed  twelve  miles  an  hour,  and  in  the  busi- 
est hours  of  the  day  it  is  much  less  than  that. 
Moreover,  the  station  platforms  and  ears  are 
so  crowded  at  these  times  as  t<>  make  them 
both  uncomfortable  and  perilous,  and  often  to 
prevent  passengers  from  securing  prompt  ac- 
commodation. 

The  project  which  gives  most  promise  of 
real  rapid  transit  is  that  which  proposes  an  un- 
derground line  in  Broadway  on  the  Arcade 
plan.  This  contemplates  separate  tracks  for 
through  travel  on  which  trains  will  be  run  at 
the  rate  of  thirty  miles  an  hour,  with  stopping 
places  at  the  proper  intervals,  and  other  tracks 
for  way  trains,  with  more  frequent  stops.  It 
proposes  also  to  provide  underground  side- 
walks and  facilities  for  placing  pipes,  wires, 
\-c. ,  where  they  will  be  accessible  without  dis- 
turbing the  street  surface.  If  the  company 
obtains  the  privileges  for  which  it  is  asking, 
care  should  be  taken  to  provide  all  proper 
guarantees  as  to  its  financial  stability,  the 
practicability  of  its  plans,  and  the  security  of 
public  and  private  rights  in  the  carrying  out 
its  scheme. 


New  York  Times,  March  20,  1884. 

The  Arcade  Hallway. 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  March  19.— A  final  hearing 
on  the  Broadway  Arcade  Railroad  bill  was  had 
this  evening  before  the  joint  Railroad  Commit- 
tees of  the  two  houses.  Alvah  P.  Mann,  E.  S. 
Jaffrey,  S.  V.  R.  Cruger,  and  one  or  two  other 


gentlemen  representing  the  Trinity  Church 
Corporation  and  other  property-owners  on 
Broadway  appeared  in  opposition  to  the  bill. 
Their  opposition  was  directed  to  the  practica- 
bility of  the  scheme,  both  in  an  engineering 
point  of  view  and  financially,  and  to  the  great 
injury  they  believed  it  would  inflict  on  Broad- 
way property  owners,  and  the  delay  and  in- 
convenience it  would  cause  to  traffic  and  travel 
on  the  street.  A  large  part  of  their  arguments 
displayed  such  ignorance  of  the  details  of  the 
scheme  they  were  opposing  that  they  had  very- 
little  effect  on  the  committee,  and  were  easily- 
refuted  by  a  few  plain  facts  stated  by  Mr. 
McAlpine,  the  engineer,  and  by  Mr.  Post,  the 
architect. 

Mr.  M.  C.  Smith,  the  President  of  the  Ar- 
cade Company,  addressed  the  committee  at 
considerable  length  in  reply  to  the  opposition, 
and  said  if  the  Trinity  Church  Corporation  and 
any  owners  of  Broadway  property  had  only 
accepted  the  invitation  often  extended  to  them 
to  step  into  the  office  of  the  Company  in  the  Bo- 
reel  building  and  examine  the  Arcade  scheme, 
instead  of  sending  lawyers  150  miles  to  Albany 
to  display  their  ignorance  of  the  whole  enter- 
prise, they  would  have  shown  better  judgment, 
and  would  have  saved  the  committee  much 
valuable  time.  The  committee  will  nndoubt- 
ly  report  the  bill  favorably  in  both  houses,  and 
the  report  will  be  nearly  unanimous. 


New  York  Daily  Graphic,  March  26,  1884. 

Progress  of  the  Arcade  Kailroad  Project  at 
Albany. 

As  between  the  Arcade  and  the  tunnel  road 
(which  the  Broadway  Underground  Railroad 
Company  has  a  right  to  build)  public  senti- 
ment seems  to  be  crystalized  permanently  in 
favor  of  the  arcade  plan,  as  proposed  to  be  car- 
ried out.  At  the  hearing  before  the  Joint 
Railway  Committee  of  the  Legislature  on 
Wednesday,  the  opposition  was  weaker  than 
ever  before  known,  and  made  no  headway. 
The  Real  Estate  Record  of  yesterday,  speak- 
ing of  the  hearing  at  Albany,  says  : 

President  Smith,  of  the  Arcade  Company, 
gave  the  objectors  the  names  of  the  principal 
men  connected  with  the  enterprise,  showing 
that  it  was  no  chimerical  concern,  and  also 
presented  numerous  letters  from  large  proper- 
ty holders  on  Broadway  in  favor  of  the  pro- 
ject, while  Engineer  McAlpine 'and  Architect 
Post  explained  the  methods  by  which  it  was 
proposed  to  construct  the  road,  and  demon- 
strated that  neither  the  Trinity  Church  steeple 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


31 


nor  the  walls  inul  foundations  of  a  single  build- 
ing on  Broadway  would  be  disturbed  or  affect- 
ed it  by.  As  to  the  pipes  and  sewers,  plans  for 
their  regulation  and  replacement,  where  they 
oould  in  the  future  bo  repaired  without  tearing 
up  the  street,  were  presented.  It  was  shown 
that  in  building  the  underground  railroad  in 
London  not  only  was  the  road  built  under 
some  of  the  largest  buildings,  but  constructed 
under  one  of  the  largest  monuments  there 
without  disturbing  it  or  the  foundations  of  the 
buildings  in  the  least.  The  hearing  was 
largely  attended,  and  the  opponents  learned 
something  of  the  possibilities  of  modern  engi- 
neering, while  the  members  of  the  committee 
congratulated  the  promoters  of  the  Arcade 
road  on  their  complete  and  satisfactory  answer 
to  all  objections  raised. 

In  another  column  of  to-day's  Graphic  will 
be  found  a  notice  to  Broadway  property  own- 
ers in  relation  to  the  above. 


To  Broadway  Property  Owners.* 

It  would  seem  that  certain  owners  of  prop- 
erty on  Broadway  are  opposed  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  Arcade  Railway.  The  argu; 
ments  advanced  by  them,  so  far  as  they  have 
been  made  public,  are  the  same  as  advanced 
by  their  lawyers  before  the  joint  committee  of 
the  Legislature,  based  upon  misapprehension 
or  misrepresentations.  Therefore  we  invite 
all  owners  of  Broadway  property  to  call  at 
our  office  iii  tin  Jlorccl  building,  examine  tin 
enterprise,  and  thus  learn  the  actual  facts. 
If  they  will  do  this  we  are  confident  we  can 
convince  them,  as  we  have  already  convinced 
many  of  the  largest  owners,  that  the  Arcade, 
besides  being  of  immense  benefit  to  the  city 
and  to  the  public  generally,  will  also  increase 
the  value  of  their  property  one  third. 
Melville  C.  Smith, 

President. 


New  York  Times,  March  26,  1884. 

Means  for  Local  Travel. 

The  General  Surface  Railroad  bill  was  or- 
dered to  a  third  reading  in  the  Senate  yester- 
day with  a  number  of  amendments  which  im- 
proved its  character.      ***** 

With  this  bill  enacted  there  will  be  no  occa- 
casion  for  the   scheme   laid  out  by  the  Rapid 

*  This  invitation  has  been  repeatedly  published,  and  is  a 
standing  one  to  all  parties  interested. 


Transit  Commission.  For  the  most  part  it  is 
a  scheme  for  surface  roads  to  be  operated  on 
the  cable  plan.  This  is  not,  in  any  proper 
sense  of  the  term,  a  rapid  transit  system,  for 
cars  propelled  by  cable  power  move  very  little 
faster  than  those  drawn  by  horses,  amino 
rapid  transit  trains  can  I  e  safely  run  on  the 
surface.         *        *         ***** 

But  surface  roads  will  not  afford  all  the  ac- 
commodation needed  in  eddition  to  that  given 
by  the  present  elevated  i  ailroads.  The  latter 
do  not  meet  the  requirements  of  the  city  in 
the  matter  of  real  rapid  transit.  They  have 
already  been  outgrown.  At  certain  hours  of 
the  day  they  are  crowded  beyond  their  capaci- 
ty to  furnish  proper  accommodation,  and  over 
and  above  all  that  they  can  do  there  is  need  of 
means  of  communication  between  the  lower 
and  upper  parts  of  the  city  at  a  really  rapid 
rate.     ******** 

But  it  is  a  question  whether  the  present  and 
growing^ieeds  of  the  city  would  not  be  better  met 
by  an  underground  system.  The  projectors  of 
the  Broadway  Arcade  do  not  yet  despair  of  con- 
vincing the  property-owners  on  that  great  tho- 
roughfare that  their  interests  as  well  as  those 
of  the  general  public  will  be  served  by  carry- 
ing out  that  project.  They  claim  that  the  ob- 
jections heretofore  made  are  based  on  misap- 
prehensions, and  they  invite  the  fullest  scrutiny 
of  their  plans.  The  undertaking  should  re- 
ceive the  most  searching  examination,  reduc- 
ing, so  far  as  possible,  to  a  certainty  the  results 
which  would  be  involved  in  the  construction 
and  operation  of  the  road.  If  it  can  be  found 
feasible  and  consistent  with  all  rights,  and  so 
guarded  as  to  insure  'what  it  so  confidently 
promises  to  the  public,  it  would  meet  one  very 
pressing  need,  that  of  rapid  conveyance  over 
long  distances.  The  bill  authorizing  the  com- 
pany to  proceed  with  its  project  was  reported 
in  the  Senate  yesterday,  but  before  it  is  acted 
upon  every  objection  should  be  patiently  heard 
and  carefully  considered.  Broadway  property- 
owners  have  important  rights,  but  their  objec- 
tions should  be  shown  to  be  well  founded  before 
they  are  suffered  to  stand  in  the  way  of  a  pub- 
lic improvement  which  may  prove  of  great 
value  to  them  as  well  as  the  city. 


New  York  Record  and  Guide,  March  29, 1884. 

The  Opposition  to  the  Arcade  Railroad  Bill. 

The  opponents  of  the  bill  to  create  an  Ar- 
cade Railroad  under  Broadway  have  based  their 
objections  on  very  frail   grounds.    They  argue 


32 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


that  that  thoroughfare  will  be  practically  use- 
less duriug  the  construction  of  the  road,  and 
there  •will  be  a  serious  interruption  to  traffic. 
They  also  object  on  the  ground  that  the  exca- 
vations may  be  dangerous  to  the  buildings  on 
either  side  of  the  street.  It  is  clear  from  the 
character  of  the  objections  raised,  that  the  op- 
ponents of  the  measure  have  given  little  or  no 
consideration  to  the  merits  of  the  proposed 
road.  In  the  first  place  there  will  be  no  ob- 
stacles to  travel,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  pic- 
ture published  in  a  recent  issue  of  this  paper 
showing  the  large  iron  bridge  which  will  be 
placed  over  the  street,  over  which  passengers 
and  traffic  will  pass  and  under  which  the  work 
of  construction  will  be  proceeded  with.  These 
bridges,  according  to  the  engineer's  report, 
will  occupy  the  space  in  front  of  each  build- 
ing for  about  one  month,  and  will  cause  little 
if  any  inconvenience  to  the  occupants  of  the 
property  or  the  public  at  large.  Then  the  fear 
that  the  safety  of  the  buildings  will  be  endan- 
gered is  ungrounded.  The  engineering  diffi- 
culties can  be  easily  overcome  and  are  not  by 
any  means  as  great  as  those  encountered  in 
constructing  the  London  tunnel.  The  state- 
ment that  property  on  Broadway  will  be  affec- 
ted seems  absurd  in  view  of  the  fact  that  in 
the  English  capital  the  tunnel  has  been  bored 
under  the  highest  structures,  including  a  mon- 
ument weighing  nearly  two  hundred  tons, 
without  the  sbghtest  oscillation  being  discern- 
ible, whereas  the  Arcade  Road  will  only  run 
beside  the  buildings  and  not  under  them. 
The  plans  have  been  thoughtfully  laid  out  l>y 
skilled  hands,  and  some  of  the  most  promi- 
nent engineers  in  the  country  have  given  the 
road  their  sanction,  and  think  it  of  incalcula- 
ble value  to  New  York  city.  Besides  it  may 
be  noted  that  the  Arcade  bill  provides  for  com- 
missioners to  see  that  the  road  is  constructed 
safely  and  well. 

It  is  of  course  hut  natural  that  owners  of 
realty  should  look  askance  on  any  measure 
which  may  be  likely  to  affect  their  property. 
Real  estate  is  very  conservative  and  does  not 
like  change.  Improvements  have  nearly  al- 
ways to  be  made  in  spite  of  the  protests  of 
large  property  owners  and  not  with  their  sup- 
port, and  it  is  somewhat  curious  that  the  very 
men  who  less  than  a  generation  ago  opposed 
some  of  our  best  public  improvements  have 
since  become  wealthy  and  have  benefited  most 
by  the  veiy  measures  they  fought  against,  and 
among  these  figure  some  of  the  names  of 
those  who  oppose  the  Arcade  Road,  which 
woidd  probably  double  the  value  of  their  prop- 


erty on  Broadway  within  the  next  decade. 
These  gentlemen  may  be  conservative,  but 
they  can  hardly  be  credited  with  being  far- 
sighted. 

There  is  one  thine/  which  has  characterized 
the  promoters  of  the  Arcade  Road,  and  thai 
is  their  willingness  to  give  every  information 
to  the  public  about  their  plan.  Railroad  com- 
panies intht  past  have  not  been  character- 
ised by  a  desire  to  satisfy  public  opinion. 
They  havi  been  noted  rather  for  what  they 
conceal  than  what  they  disclose.  Thepresi- 
dt  nt  of  tin  Arcade  Road  has  published  in  all 
tht  papers  during  the  past  weekan  invitation 
to  propt  rty  owners  to  call  at  the  offio  s  of  tin 
company  and  examine  the  enU  rprise  and  flu 
plans  of  their  <  ngint  t  rs,  so  that  they  may  be 
ahli  to  judge  for  themselves  as  to  its  merits. 
Mr.  Samuel  McElroy,  engineer  to  the  Astor 
estate,  recently  a  railed  himself  of  this  invi- 
tation, and  <  xprt  sst  d  his  satisfaction  both  as 
to  the  value  and  capacity  of  the  proposed 
road. 

Property  owners  will  do  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  the  company  has  the  right  by  charter  to 
build  a  tunnel  under  Broadway.  The  question 
now  is,  not  whether  there  shall  or  shall  not  be 
ihi  Arcade  road  constructed, but  which  shall  the 
company  build — a  tunnel  or  arcade  ?  That  the 
latter  has  incomparably  greater  advantages  over 
the  former  is  evident  to  the  most  unsophistica- 
ted. Is  NewYork  city  to  have  a  dark,  smi  >ky  tun- 
nel or  a  light,  airy,  well-ventilated  arcade, where 
it  will  be  a  pleasure  to  promenade,  and  which 
will  enable  the  cellars  of  every  piece  of  prop- 
erty on  Broadway  to  be  converted  into  valua- 
ble stores  ?  Were  a  canvass  taken  of  our  citi- 
zens, there  can  be  no  doubt  that  nine  out  of 
ten  would  favor  the  latter.  The  company 
states  it  will  be  forced  to  build  this  tunnel 
much  against  its  inclination  should  the  arcade 
plan  not  receive  the  sanction  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. //  is  for  tht  property  owners  and  the 
public  at  lartji  to  see  that  Nciv  York  eity 
shall  receivt  the  best  road,  and  that  road  is 
the  Arcade 


N.  Y.  Real  Estate  Chronicle,  March  2«,  1884. 

It  is  curious  how  history  repeats  itself.  The 
great  property  holders  on  Broadway  have  al- 
ways opposed  every  improvement  on  that  street. 
The  late  A.  T.  Stewart  was  always  backed  by 
the  Enos,  Astors,  Crugers  and  other  represen- 
tatives of  the  great  estates  and  corporations  in 
his  fights  against  surface  and  elevated  railroads 
on  Broadway.     He  succeeded,   and    the   result 


NEW  YOKK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


:;:; 


was  the  loss  of  the*  retail  trade  of  the  oity  to 
our  great  thoroughfare.  Third,  Sixth  and 
Eighth  avenues,  and  Fourteenth  and  Twenty- 
third  streets  now  contain  the  great  stores  which 

an    elevated    road    would    have    maintained   in 

Broadway.     It  was  these  same  interests,  with 

the  help  of    1 1  u-    Tweed    ring,    which    induced 

John  T.  Hoffman  to  veto  the  Arcade  road  lull 

which   passed    the    Legislature    when    he    was 

Governor.     In  the  protest  against  the  revived 

Arcade  project  are  exactly  the  sain.'  names — 
Airs.  A.  T,  Stewart  and  Judge  Hilton,  wit-lithe 
Enos  and  the  Trinity  Church  corporation — 
who  are  as  vociferous  against  this  splendid  and 
valuable  improvement  as  they  were  against  all 
previous  efforts  to  increase  the  business  on 
Broadway.  It  is  strange  that  the  experience 
of  the  past  has  no  lesson  for  these  Broadway 
Bourbons.  They  learn  nothing  and  forget 
nothing. 


Ne>v  York  Star,  April  J),  lss4. 
Rapid  Transit. 

Tin1  elevated  railroads  have  not  solved  the 
rapid  transit  problem  in  the  metropolis,  is  a  fact 
apparent  to  everybody.  They  are  an  advance 
upon  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  horse-car 
system,  so  far  as  they  go  ;  but  when  this  much 
is  said,  praise  of  them  is  exhausted.  The  ex- 
isting lines  may  be  extended,  but  it  is  not  likely 
that  we  should  build  any  new  parallel  lines  on 
the  same  plan. 

The  semblance  of  rapid  transit  which  we 
now  have  makes  connections  that  carry  people 
into  Connecticut  or  elsewhere  outside  of  our 
county  limits.  It  does  not  tend  to  locate  them  in 
the  northern  part  of  Manhattan  Island  or  in  the 
annexed  portion  of  Westchester.  Thus  we  keep 
crowding  the  tenement  districts  by  shutting 
out  our  wage-earners  from  the  region  of  cheap 
and  healthful  homes.  At  the  same  time  we  tax 
both  New  York  proper  and  the  Annexed  Dis- 
trict for  grading,  sewerage  and  other  improve- 
ments that  are  not  compensated  by  a  suitable 
increase  of  population. 

No  scheme  hereafter  will  deserve  the  narru 
of  rapid  transit  which  "ill  not  provide  for 
running  fast  trains  from  tin  Harlem  River 
to  tin  ( 'iti/  Hall  arid  th<  Bath  ry  in  from 
twenty  to  twenty-fivt  minutes,  anil  which  fill 
not  furnish  amph  radial  connections  from 
tin  terminus  of  tin  main  Hm  through  tht 
uppi  r  wards  of  tin  city.  Nothing  can  be 
tolerated,  either,  which  will  obstruct  the  street 
surfaces.  These  limitations  lead  at  once  to  the 
conclusion  that    the    rapid    transit  problem  on 


Manhattan  Island  can  !»•  solved   only  in  one  of 

two  ways,  by  an  underground  or  by  a  viaduct 
railroad.  The  latter  would  be  a  road  resting 
on  a  solid  bed,  running  through  the  middle  of 
blocks  instead  of  on  the  thoroughfare,  and  08] 

ried  over  streets  on  arches  of  masonry.    There 

are  many  plans    tor   depressed  roads,    fore st 

among  which  is  the  Broadway  Arcade  project. 
Its  authors  propose  not  merely  to  tunnel  Broad- 
way, hut  to  excavate  beneath  its  surface  a  brand 

new  street,  thoroughly  ventilated  and  lighted, 
affording  room  for  a  four-track  road  with 
sidewalks,  besides  convenient  receptacles  for 
water,  sewer  and  gas-pipes  and  electric  wires. 
The  feasibility  of  the  Arcade  road  IS  attested 
by  such  eminent  engineers  as  ( lenerals  McClel- 
lan.  Wright  and  Newton,  W.  J.  McAlpine,  E. 
L.  Yiele,  .1.  W.  Adams,  C.  H.  Haswell  and 
others. 


New  York  Sun,  April   11,  1884. 

More   1 : : ■  | > i .  1  Transit  a  Necessity. 

The  vigorous  efforts  which  are  now  made  to 
push  forward  the  project  or  projects  for  build- 
ing cable  railroads  in  this  city  seem  to  get 
little  support  from  the  public.  The  citizens 
do  not  show  any  general  interest  in  the  enter- 
prises, and  for  the  very  good  reason  that  the 
roads  would  not  give  New  York  what  it  really 
wants — and  that  is  additional,  facilities  for 
rapid  transit. 

It  having  become  plain  that  the  elevated 
railroads  are  already  getting  overtaxed,  it  fol- 
lows that  the  welfare  of  the  city  requires 
further  means  of  rapid  transit  to  be  provided 
at  an  early  day.  Those  roads  carried  about 
ninety-two  millions  of  passengers  in  1883, 
which  was  only  a  few  years  after  they  had  been 
constructed  ;  and  at  the  rate  New  York  is  now 
growing  the  number  of  people  who  will  want 
to  get  up  and  down  town  rapidly  must  greatly 
increase  before  new  facilities  can  be  ready,  no 
matter  how  soon  the  jjreparations  for  furnish- 
ing them  shall  be  begun. 

For  the  new  rapid  transit  will  not  be  by  ele- 
vated railroads.  We  already  have  as  many  of 
these  as  the  city  is  likely  to  tolerate.  There  is 
no  room  for  more;  and  at  best  the  elevated 
roads  seems  to  be  only  a  temporary  device. 
As  to  the  raid'  roads,  it  is  absurd  to  tail  of 
them  as  furnishing  rapid  transit.  Bo  far  as 
speed  goes,  they  are  not  much  better  than  the 
horse  railroads. 

The  new  rapid  transit  must  be  by  under- 
ground or  depressed  roads,  and  those  will  take 
long  to  build.    The  city  will  be  set  back  great- 


34 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


ly  unless  such  underground  roads  are  provided 
in  the  course  of  a  few  years.  Business  has 
adjusted  itself  to  the  new  means  of  communi- 
cation, and  the  city  has  been  built  up  since 
the  opening  of  the  elevated  roads  with  refer- 
ence to  it.  So  soon,  therefore,  as  any  general 
inconvenience  begins  to  be  experienced  be- 
cause people  cannot  get  up  to  the  northern 
part  of  the  city  by  steam  railroads,  the  pr<  as- 
perity of  New  York  will  suffer  a  serious 
blow. 

The  new  roads  must  be  built,  and  the 
sooner  they  are  started  the  better.  The  num- 
ber of  passengers  now  carried  by  the  elevated 
railroads  is  small  in  comparison  with  that 
which  will  be  seeking  rapid  transit  ten  or 
fifteen  years  from  now.  Even  at  present  the 
travel  would  b>  much  greater  if  tin  facilities 
were  what  the  city  requires. 

More  rapid  transit  has,  therefore,  become 
an  imperative  necessity. 


N.  Y.  Real  Estate  Chronicle,  April  1G,  1884. 

The  Future  of  Hioiulway. 

By  general  consent  the  great  thoroughfare 
which  OOmmenoes  at  the  Battery  and  runs 
along  the  centre  of  the  island  up  to  the  Cen- 
tral Park,  is  destined  to  be  the  greatest  busi- 
ness street  in  the  world.  Everything  conspires 
t<>  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  commercial  estab- 
lishments on  that  famous  street.  The  enno- 
bling and  enriching  of  Broadway  has  apparent- 
ly reoommenoed  at  its  v<  ry  beginning,  as  wit- 
ness thi'  Produce,  Field  and  Welles  buildings. 

as  well  as  the  projected  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany's building.  Other  exchanges  will  find  it  to 
their  advantage  to  establish  themselves  on  low- 
er Broadway.  Tin  years  hence  the  noble  front 
opposite  Bowling  Green,  Lying  between  White- 
hall and  State  streets,  will  probably  be  occu- 
pied by  a  structure  worthy  of  the  metropolis. 
A  syndicate  of  English  capitalists  are  trying  to 
get  possession  of  the  Rector  street  block,  with 
a  view  undoubtedly  of  putting  thereon  a  build- 
ing surpassing  anything  of  the  kind  now  in 
the  city.  It  will  be  remembered,  however, 
that  Broadway  continues  up  the  west  side  of 
of  the  park  and  along  the  whole  length  of 
the  Hudson  River,  passing  through  all  the 
cities  on  its  eastern  banks.  The  Broadway  of 
Saratoga  is  but  a  continuation  of  the  Broad- 
way of  New  York  city.  Once  a  post  road,  it 
is  now  the  the  principal  street  of  many  cities, 
and  the  longest  business  and  residence  avenue 
in  the  world. 

But  our  present  concern  is  with  the  street  as 


it  exists  on  New  York  Island.  Some  time  or 
other  tin  Arcade  plan  will  certainly  beadopt- 
<d,  (t/i'i  when  it  is  a  marvelous  addition 
will  be  made  to  the  wealth  and  ■*]>!<  ndor 
of  that  f/n  at  thoroughfare.  The  Broad- 
way which  will  be  constructed  under  the 
present  surface  of  the  street  will  connect  with 
'/a  railroad  systems  of  tin  whoh  country. 
The  traveler  from  any  part  of  the  North  Ameri- 
can continent  will  then  be  able  to  take  his  ticket 
for  the  hotel  on  Broadway  in  which  he  intends 
to  stay.  He  and  his  luggage  will  be  carried  to 
the  very  door  of  the  lower  entrance  of  the 
hostelry  on  the  Arcade.  Goods  of  all  kind" 
could  be  shipped  to  connect  with  tht  ware- 
housi  on  Broadway. 

Of  course  some  of  the  large  property  own- 
ers on  Broadway  have  opposed  this  great 
scheme.  When  did  it  ever  happen  that  a 
really  magnificent  public  improvement  wax 
not  opposi  d  by  somebody  f  Many  New  York- 
ers recall  the  case  of  the  old  Stuyvesant  farm 
on  the  east  side  of  the  city.  For  generations 
that  family  had  been  growing  cabbages  and 
garden  truck  to  the  few  people  who  then  lived 
below  Canal  street.  When  it  was  proposed  to 
extend  streets  through  this  old  farm,  the  wrath 
of  the  Stuyvesants  was  unbounded.  It  was  to 
be  their  ruin.  So  they  fought  the  proposed 
Improvements  w  ith  as  much  vigor  as  did  Dame 
Partington  when  she  tried  to  brush  back  the 

waves  of  the  Atlantic  with  her  broom.  The 
descendants  of  these  sturdy  Dutchmen  are  to- 
day among  our  richest  citizens  because  of  the 
extension  of  those  streets  through  the  cabbage 
farm  against  their  will. 

The  next  generation  saw  the  same  tight  re- 
peated when  A.  T.  Stewart  and  other  large  pro- 
perty holders  on  Broadway  successfully  oppos- 
ed a  surface  or  elevated  road  on  that  thorough- 
fare. The  same  Arcade  scheme  was  endorsed 
by  the  Legislature,  but  Governor  Hoffman 
vetoed  it  at  the  dictation  of  the  Tweed  ring. 
The  result  was  that  the  trade  which  legitimate- 
ly belonged  to  Broadway  was  driven  away  to 
Sixth,  Eighth  and  Third  avenues,  and  to  Four- 
teenth and  Twenty-third  streets.  Broadway, 
ix  ton-  Fourteenth  street,  was  injured  to  tht 
amount  of  '<  ns  of  million.*  of  dollar.*  by  the 
ad  of  it-*  own  purblind  real  estaU  owners. 

The  same  influence  is  at  work  to-day  to  op- 
pose the  Arcade,  but  we  are  glad  to  learn  that 
many  of  those  who  were  first  inimical  have 
now  thought  better  of  the  matter  and  are  ex- 
amining the  plans.  The  opponents  of  the 
measure  are  now  becoming  convinced  that  their 
property  will  increase  in  value  instead  of  be- 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


35 


ing  depreciated.  This  has  been  dim  to  the 
fuel  Hint  tin  promoters  of  thi  Arc'aderoad 
havt  (hint  everything  possible  to  convince 
them  of  Ha  valut  of  thi  project  and  to  edu- 
cate tin  in  into  si  eing  ih<  <in  at  bt  nefit  to  tht  ir 
property  which  "■ill  result  from  thi  construc- 
tion of  that  road  under  Broadway. 


N.  V.  Commercial  Advertiser,  April  li>,  1*S4. 

Th«»  Arcade  Kail  way. 

Looking  at  the  Arcade  Railway  project  with- 
out bias  of  any  kind,  and  without  other  interest 
than  that  which  we  feel  in  everything  affecting 
the  welfare  of  the  oily,  we  find  two  or  three 
points  that  should  be  kept  in  mind. 

The  geographical  peculiarities  of  New  York, 
and  the  usual  distribution  of  population  and 
business,  render  rapid  transit  a  peremptory 
necessity  here.  In  no  other  city  on  the  conti- 
nent is  the  need  so  imperative.  It  is  obvious 
that  our  present  means  of  quick  intercommu- 
nication between  the  upper  and  lower  parts  of 
the  town  are  utterly  inadequate  even  now,  and 
that  with  the  continued  increase  of  population 
and  extension  of  territory  they  must  grow 
steadily  less  and  less  sufficient. 

Fuller  means  must  be  provided  in  some  way, 
and  but  three  ways  present  themselves  as  pos- 
sible. We  must  build  more  elevated  railways, 
or  we  must  permit  the  use  of  steam  on  the  sur- 
face, or  we  must  burrow  under  ground.  To 
build  enough  elevated  roads  to  carry  the 
increasing  throngs  of  passengers  will  be  sim- 
ply to  choke  the  city  to  death.  To  permit  the 
rapid  running  of  cars  on  the  surface  is  mani- 
festly out  of  the  question,  and  there  remains 
only  the  possibility  of  constructing  a  system 
of  underground  roads. 

Sooner  or  later  we  shall  have  to  resort  to 
that  system,  and  the  Arcade  Railway  project 
is  intended  to  be  a  beginning  in  that  way. 


New  York  Evening  Post,  April  18,  1884. 

status  of  the  Arcade  Railroad  Kill. 

Albany,  April  18. — The  Arcade  Railroad  pro- 
ject was  taken  up  in  the  Senate  to-day  in  a  quiet 
and  altogether  rational  way.  There  was  no  ob- 
trusive lobby  on  hand,  the  only  person  inter- 
ested who  was  pit  sent  being  ex-Governor  Wal- 
ker, the  attorney  for  the  company.  Senator 
Otis  spoke  against  and  Senator  Thomas,  Chair- 
man of  the  Railroad  Commitee,  spoke  at  length 
for  the  bill.  Mr.  Robb  says  of  this  project,  that 
while  it  is  physically  practicable  he   has  not 


been  able  yet  to  satisfy  himself  of  its  finan- 
cial solidity.  Without  mone\  to  put  the  bill 
in  action,  in  case  it  passes,  he  ran  see  no  harm 
to  come  of  enacting  it.  The  cost  of  building 
the  road  might  be  within  computable  bounds, 
but  the  possible  damages  to  property  which 
would  undoubtedly  be  incurred,  are  incalcul- 
able. The  bill  has  excellent  standing  in  the 
Senate,  and  will  very  likely  be  passed  by  that 
branch. 


New  York,  Times,  April  19,  1884. 
The   promoters  of   tht    Arcadt    Railway 

si/u  mi  hurt  pursued  the.  wisi  policy  of  fuT- 
nishing  m<  utl/ers  of  the  Legislature  with  nil 
tin  information  at  their  command  bearing 
upon  the  feasibility,  expediency  and  cost  of 
tin  project.  The  result  is  that  it  has  met  with 
little  opposition  in  the  Senate,  where  it  was 
yesterday  ordered  to  a  third  reading.  No  one 
can  doubt  that  if  the  plan  were  carried  out  it 
would  be  a  magnificent  thing  for  the  city,  and 
do  one  would  be  more  benefited  than  the  own- 
ers of  property  along  the  line  of  the  proposed 
road.  Notwithstanding  its  great  cost  it  would 
also  in  all  probability  prove  profitable. 


New  York  World,  April  23,  1884. 

It  appears  that  ex- Governor  Butler  is 
watching  events  at  Albany,  and  especially  the 
progress  of  the  Arcade  Underground  Radroad 
bill.  Mr.  H.  C.  Gardiner  received  this  morning 
the  following  letter  from  General  Butler. 

Boston,  April  21,  1884. 

My  Dear  Sir  : — A  mutual  friend  has  been 
explaining  to  me  your  rapid  transit  scheme  by 
means  of  an  an  Arcade  road  under  Broadway, 
and  so  out  to  the  country  by  the  line  diverging 
from  Twenty-third  street. 

I  am  very  much  struck  with  the  object  of 
the  enterprise,  which  is  to  give  tin  eon  fined 
workingmen  and  tradesmen  employed  in  the 
lower  parts  of  the  city  of  New  York  means  of 
reaching  home  expeditiously  and  cheaply,  and 
at  such  a  distance  as  will  afford  them  light, 
air  and  space,  at  least  during  the  hours  of  re- 
creation and  sleep. 

Nothing  could  !'<   done,  it  seems  to  m< ,  in 

tin  city  of  X'  W  York  which  iron  Id  SQfar  In  m  - 
Jit  nil  classes  of  its  people.  It  may  be  said, 
where  is  the  capital  to  build  such  a  road? 
When  there  is  snch  a  plethora  of  capital  in  this 
country  that  it  even  overflows  our  borders  and 
seeks  investment  in  Mexico,  where  investments 


36 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PKESS. 


can  never  be  certain  because  of  its  very  found- 
ation— stability  of  government — is  wanting, 
and  while  New  England  and  New  York  have 
more  money  invested,  leaving  out  real  estate, 
west  of  the  Alleghanies  than  they  have  east 
thereof,  and  while  money  can  be  had  for  first- 
class  investments  at  3  and  4  per  cent. ,  it  would 
seem  impossible  for  such  a  road  as  you  propose 
to  fail  for  want  of  capital  to  build  it,  even  if 
you  depended  upon  this  country  alone,  and 
there  is  a  like  plethora  of  capital  in  Europe. 

Benj.  F.   Butler. 


approve  of  it.    It  is  a  great  enterprise  and  ought 
to  be  entirely  successful. 


New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  April  25, 

1884. 

The  vote  of  22  to  8,  by  which  the  Broadway 
Arcade  Railway  bill  passed  the  State  Senate 
yesterday  seems  to  indicate  pretty  clearly  that 
investigation,  discussion  and  reflection  have 
resulted  in  winning  favor  for  the  measure. 
The  necessity  for  better  and  larger  means  of 
rapid  transit  in  this  city  is  obvious  to  every- 
body who  happens  to  be  possessed,  as  Mr. 
Samm  I  \\'(  Hi  r  was,  of  a  pair  of  eyes,  that  the 
sole  available  place  for  further  rapid  transit 
roads  is  underground. 


The  Sun,  Friday  May  2,  1884. 

The  Broadway  Arcade  Railroad  bill,  which 
had  previously  passed  the  Senate,  went  through 
the  Assembly  at  the  afternoon  session,  with 
only  nine  dissenting  votes.       *  * 

Under  the  provisions  of  the  bill  the  company 
is  to  build  a  four-track  road  to  carry  freight 
and  passengers  ;-to  construct  temporary  roads 
and  bridges  during  the  progress  of  the  work, 
so  that  travel  may  not  be  interrupted;  to  re- 
place sewers,  gas  and  water  pipes,  and  to  lay 
sub-surface  sidewalks.  The  vision  that  Mr. 
Littlejohn  drew  of  the  New  York  of  the  future, 
with  trains  whizzing  along  these  surb-surface 
tracks  at  forty  miles  an  hour,  was  too  much  for 
anybody  to  resist,  and  the  bill  went  through 
with  a  momentum  that  nothing  could  check. 


Buffalo  Courier,  Saturday  May  3,  1884. 

New  York  Arcade  Railroad. 

Just  before  the  close  of  the  session  of  the  As- 
sembly yesterday,  the  bill  known  as  the  New 
York  Underground  or  Arcade  railroad  bill,  was 
passed  by  the  remarkable  vote  of  109  to  9.  It 
now  goes  to  the  Governor,  who  will  probably- 


New  York  Record  and  Guide,  May  3,  1884. 

Governor  Cleveland  has  a  chance  to  win 
t fie  good-will  of  all  intelligent  owners  of 
realty  in  New  York,  by  promptly  signing 
the  bill  which  has  passed  both  branches  of 
the  Legislature  by  overwhelming  majorities, 
amending  the  Broadway  Underground  Beiil- 
road  act  so  as  to  permit  of  the  construc- 
tion of  an  Arcade  road  wider  the  present 
surface  of  our  greatest  of  thoroughfares. 
Only  nine  votes  were  recoreled  against  the 
passage  of  the  liill  in  the  Assembly  and 
eig/if  in  the  Senate.  Ex-Secretary  of  Treas- 
ury,  Windom,  telegraphs  from  London  that 

tin  money  will  be  in  readiness  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  road  tin  moment  the  Oov- 
i  rnor  signs  tin  bill.  Should  it  ever  be  com- 
pleted New  York  will  becomt  tht  most  im- 
portant city  of  any  capital  in  tin  world. 
It  will  In  tin  terminus  of  every  railway 
in  flu  country.  It  will  reduct  tin  tiuu  of 
transit  from  tin  Battery  to  the  upper  bound- 
ary of  tin  Twenty-fourth  Ward  to  within 
thirty  minutes.       Tin   through  and  way  roads 

under  tin  present  surface  of  Broadway  will 

hare  n  capacity    t<i    transport   500.000,000  of 

peopb  per  annum.  Ttwillsolvt  tin  problems 
of  s<  wt  ragt .  watt  r  st  rvice,  pm  umatic  tutu  s, 

till  graph   ami  telephone    wires,   as  will  as 

gas,  --ti  am  In  afing  and  the  otln  r  subti  renncau 
in  ci  ssitii  s  of  our  art  at  <Hy.  (Ion  rnor  Hoff- 
man n  toed  a  similar  measure  at  flu  instana 
of  tin  Tweed  ring,  bringing  on  himself  de- 
served censure  for  all  tiuu.  Governor  Cleve- 
land should  see  to  it  that  this  improvement, 
so  important  to  tin  metropolis,  be  forever  as- 
sociated with  Hie  history  of  his  adminis- 
tration. 


New  York  Sun.  May  3,  1884. 

The  Arcade  Railroad. 

The  arcade  project  was  first  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  public  about  ten  or  fifteen 
years  ago,  and  strenuous  efforts  were  then 
made  by  its  originators  to  get  the  Legislature 
to  look  upon  it  favorably.  But  at  that  time 
the  chief  property  holders  on  Broadway, 
the  late  A.  T.  Stewart,  for  instance,  were  bit- 
terly opposed  to  any  sort  of  a  Broadway  rail- 
road, and  the  Arcade  project  was  for  the  moment 
defeated. 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  KAIEWAY. 


37 


Since  those  days,  however,  the  elevated  rail- 
roads have  been  huilt,  and  it  has    been    found 

that  they  benefit  rather  than  harm  trade  on  the 
streets  through  which  they  pass.  They  draw 
customers  to  the  streets,  and  the stations speed- 
ily become  active  centers  of  business.  How- 
ever it  may  be  with  dwellings,  the  roads 
unquestionably  serve  the  interests  of  the  mer- 
chants along  their  line.  The  Sixth  avenue  and 
the  Bowery  have  greatly  gained,  so  far  as  trade 
goes,  by  the  elevated  railroads. 

Meantime,  Broadway,  below  Fourteenth 
street,  has  suffered  from  the  withdrawal  of 
retail  trade  to  those  thoroughfares.  It  has 
neither  surface  railroads  nor  elevated  railroads. 
It  has  got  to  be  a  street  aside  from  the  great 
drift  of  travel  up  and  down  the  island. 

Property  owners  on  Broadway,  therefore, 
have  become  more  favorably  disposed  to  a  rail- 
road through  that  street.  It  is  true  that  Mr. 
Astor  and  some  other  of  the  land  owners  are  an- 
tagonistic to  this  particular  Arcade  scheme,  but 
they  must  acknowledge  that  the  facilities  for 
transit  through  Broadway  ueed  to  be  increased ; 
that  the  omnibuses  do  not  satisfy  the  wishes 
of  the  public  and  of  the  business  ou  Broadway. 

Everybody  understands,  too,  that  rapid 
transit  through  the  ceutre  of  the  city  is  what 
we  imperatively  need.  If  we  can  get  a  sub- 
surface railroad  along  Broadway^  it  will  be  of 
inestimable  advantage  to  the  public,  and  great- 
ly contribute  to  the  growth  and  prosperity  of 
New  York. 

We  have  found  from  experience  that  the 
existing  elevated  railroads  are  incapable  of 
meeting  the  demand  for  rapid  transit.  They 
are  now  carrying  about  as  many  people  during 
the  commission  hours  as  they  are  able  to  trans- 
port. Already  the  public  justly  complaiu  of 
the  delays  and  inconveniences  to  which  they 
are  subjected  because  of  the  crowds  at  the 
stations  and  the  overloading  of  the  trains.  Nor 
can  the  capacity  of  the  elevated  railroads  be 
much  increased.  It  is  proposed  to  lengthen 
the  stations,  so  that  the  trains  may  be  made  up 
of  more  cars.  But  longer  and  heavier  trains 
would  require  stronger  and  heavier  locomotives, 
and  already  the  engines  exceed  the  stipulated 
weight.  It  is  doubtful  whether  the  elevated 
structure  could  stand  any  greater  strain. 

More  facilities  for  rapid  transit  are  therefore 
at  once  required,  and  the  necessity  for  them  will 
become  more  ami  more  urgent.  We  need,  too, 
something  of  a  more  permanent  character  than 
elevated  railroads,  which  seem  to  many  people 
only  a  makeshift.     That  is,  we  must  have  un- 


derground roads,  or  sunken  roads  for  steam 
travel. 

On  its  j'uci  tin  Arcadt  achenu  is  tin  moat 
attractivt  project  for  a  aub-eurfact  railroad 
which  has  ever  been  presented  tout.  The 
proposition  is  to  construct  under  Broadway 
what  will  be  practically  another  street,  and 
along  that  to  run  four  tracks  for  steam  cars. 

//'  tin  Arcade  project  is  carried  out,  wt 
shall  fur  tin  first  tiim  liuvi  real  and  siiital>l< 
hikI  adt  quote  rapid  transit  in  Xeiv  York. 


New   York  Sunday  Mercury,  May  4,  1884. 

A  Hearing  for    the  Arcade  Bailroad   15111  before 
the  Governor. 

The  opponents  of  the  Broadway  Underground 
Arcade  Railroad  Bill,  which  passed  the  Assem- 
bly last    Thursday    with    only   nine   opposing 
votes,  and  which  passed  the   Senate  the  week 
before   with   only  eight  votes   iu   opposition, 
have  asked  a  hearing  before  the  Governor,  and 
it  will  be  held  some  day  this  week.   Only  a  few 
of  the  property  owners   on   that  thoroughfare 
are  fighting  the  measure,   and  this  corporal's 
guard  appears  to  be  led  by  Congressman  O.  B. 
Potter,  who  is  likewise  the  stalwart   opponent 
of  the  new  aquediict  and  of  the   proposed  new 
up-town  parks.     Mr.  Potter  has  been  using  his 
Congressional  frank  to  forward   lithographed 
letters  to  all  owners  of  property  on  Broadway, 
but  thus  far  without   much   effect.     One  of 
these  letters,  sent  to  George  S.  Coe,  president 
of  the  American  Exchange  Bank,  and  president 
of  the  National  Banking  Association,    secured 
from  that   gentleman   an   earnest  letter  to  the 
Legislature  and  the   Governor  in  favor  of  the 
Arcade  project,  to  which  Mr.  H.  B.  Claflin  and 
ex-Collector  Hiram  Barney  also  subscribed:    It 
has  become  known    to   property   owners   that 
some  years  ago  Mr.  Potter  became  interested 
in  the  Yandenberg  Underground  Boad,  and  se- 
cured from  that  corporation  the  concession  of  a 
railway  station  on  his  property  at  Broadway 
and  Eighth   street,  and  had  drawings  made 
showing  how  his  property  would  look  as  thus 
improved  ;  and  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  has 
discounted  the  effect  of  Mr.  Potter's  opposition 
to  the  Arcade  plan.     It  was  only  when  another 
company  proposed  to  lay  its  tracks  in  front  of 
his  property  that   Mr.    Potter  discovered  that 
his  neighbors  might  be  injured  !         *        * 


New  York  World,  May  4,  1884. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  projected  Arcade  Rail- 
way, when   finished,    will   have  a  capacity  of  a 


38 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PKESS. 


million  j>assengers  a  day  ;  that  its  express 
trains  will  run  from  the  City  Hall  to  Harlem 
River  in  twenty  minutes  ;  that  the  progress  of 
its  construction  will  cause  no  interruption  to 
travel  or  traffic,  and  no  disturbance  of  the  sew- 
ers, or  the  gas  or  water  mains,  which  will  be 
transferred  to  a  subway  under  the  the  tracks  ; 
that  the  the  road,  instead  of  injuring  Broadway 
property,  will  enormously  increase  its  value  by 
making  the  thoroughfare  once  more  the  chief 
artery  of  travel.  If  half  of  these  claims  arc 
substantiated,  the  Arcade  road  will  be  a  great 
institution  indeed. 


Syracuse  Courier,  May  9,  1884. 
Tli<'  Arcade  Railroad. 

The  New  York  underground  Arcade  railroad 
bill  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor  and 
awaits  his  signature.  The  fact  that  this 
measure  passed  both  branches  of  the  legisla- 
ture with  hardly  a  show  of  opposition,  will,  we 
presume,  be  duly  taken  into  consideration  by 
His  Excellency  in  reaching  his  decision. 

There  is  said  to  be  ample  capital  ready  for 
its  successful  prosecution  and  completion  if 
the  necessary  legislation  is  granted. 


New  York  Sunday   Mercury,   May    11,  1884. 

The  Governor  and    Rapid  Transit 

Over  thirteen  thousand  business  men  and 
property  owners  in  this  city  have  petitioned 
Governor  Cleveland  to  sign  the  Arcade  Hail- 
way  bill,  and  yesterday  lie  received  over  three 
hundred  telegrams  Erom  owners  of  property 
on  Broadway  and  its  immediate  vicinity  to  the 
same  effect.  The  public  and  private  necessi- 
ties of  the  city  imperatively  demand  increased 
means  of  rapid  transit,  and  as  the  Legislature 
has  just  decided,  by  an  overwhelming  vote,  that 
the  Arcade  plan  is  the  best  and  the  only  one 
that  has  been  offered,  the  Governor  will  no 
doubt  affix  his  signature  to  the  bill.  The  plan 
has  now  been  before  the  public  for  seventeen 
years,  has  been  fully  investigated,  and  seems 
to  meet  with  popular  approval.  It  is  endorsed 
by  many  of  the  largest  business  houses  and 
most  extensive  real  estate  owners  in  the  city, 
after  a  careful  examination,  and  positive  as- 
surances have  been  given  that  the  road  will  be 
built  at  once.  In  the  city's  urgent  need  of 
rapid  transit,  the  duty  of  the  Governor  to  sign 
the  bill  would   seem   to  be  imperative. 


New  York  World,  May  11,  1884. 

The  New  Rapid  Transit  System. 

The  property-holders  and  their  representa- 
tives who  have  been  showing  the  Governor 
why  he  should  veto  the  Arcade  Railroad  bill 
now  in  his  hands,  seem,  like  the  player  Queen 
in  "  Hamlet, "  to  protest  too  much.  Mr.  John 
E.  Develin,  for  instance,  objects  to  the  bill,  be- 
cause it  is  unconstitutional.  But  if  so  the  road 
cannot  be  constructed  and  no  damage  can  be 
done  to  the  property  owners.  Mr.  Edwards. 
Jaffray  thinks  the  bill  ought  to  be  vetoed,  be- 
cause it  is  passed  simply  for  speculative  pur- 
poses, and  without  any  intention  to  go  on  and 
build  the  road.  But  every  railroad  is  for  spec- 
ulative purposes,  and  if  this  particular  road  is 
not  to  be  built  at  all,  why  should  the  property 
owners  trouble  themselves  about  it  ?  Mr. 
Orlando  15.  Potter  objects  to  the  approval  of 
the  bill,  because  the  charter,  or  supposed  char- 
ter of  an  underground  Broadway  railroad  was 
once  offered  to  him  for  $1,000.  Mr.  Potter  has 
only  himself  to  blame  that  he  did  not  buy  the 
charter  and  so  shut  out  all  others  from  such  an 
undertaking. 

A  tunnel  road,  or  some  other  that  can  run 
on  the  solid  ground  or  on  solid  masonry,  is  the 
only  rapid  transit  which  will  eventually  meet 
the  wants  of  New  York.  The  Elevated  Roads 
are  already  insufficient.  Before  many  years 
pass  away  they  will  be  as  much  behind  the 
public  necessity  as  the  horse  cars  were  ten  or 
twelve  \  an  ago.  To-day,  from  the  manner  in 
which  some  of  them  are  managed,  they  are 
only  a  pretense  of  rapid  transit. 

Whatever  charter  may  be  granted  for  a  rail- 
road in  the  city,  the  rights  of  individuals  and 
the  interests  of  the  public  ought  to  be  properly 
guarded.  If  the  Arcade  bill  tails  in  this  respect 
it  ought  to  be  vetoed.  But  we  need  better 
rapid  transit  than  we  now  have,  and  if  it  is 
d<i  mil  (I  until  flu  whims  and  fears  of  property 
owners  art  satisfied  and  removed  wt  shall 
never  get  it.  Objections  an  rnadt  by  ont  set 
of  tax  payers  to  every  public  improvement 
that  is  proposed.  Individual  interests  must 
i/hi  way  tn  tli<  general  good,  ami  tht  Gover- 
nor ought  tu  ill  rii/i  tin  Arcadt  bill,  like  all 
ntln  rs,  on  its  mi  rits. 


Times,  Sunday,  May  11,  1884. 

Asking  for  the  Arcade  Road. 

Albany,  May  10. — The  Executive  Chamber 
has  been  flooded  to-day  with  telegrams  and  pe- 
titions from  property-owners,  business  associ- 


NEW  YOltK   AKCADE  RAILWAY. 


39 


ations,  social,  charitable  and  hygienic  aluba 
and  organizations,  asking  the  Governor  to  sign 
the  Arcade  Railroad  bill.  Among  the  Broad- 
way property-owners  who  ask  for  the  hill  are: 
William  IT.  l)e  Forrest,  John  Brower,  Bayard 
Clark,  the  owners  of  the  Shoe  and  Leather 
Bank,  Gen.  L.  F.  Appleby,  the  East  River  Na- 
tional Bank,  the  Equitable  Life  Assurance 
Society,  the  American  Express  Company,  Henry 
M.  Taber,  Theodore  Burgoyne,  the  American 
Exchange  Bank,  Austin  Or.  Fox,  V.  K.  Steven- 
son, Sidney  De  Kay,  Elisha  A.  Packer,  Hiram 
Barney,  James  Langdon  Curtis,  A.  J.  Baker, 
and  C.  V.  Lydell. 

All  the  prominent  hotels  on  Broadway  except 
three  petition  for  the  signature,  and  most  of 
the  theatres.  Among  other  petitioners  are 
Luther  11.  Marsh,  W.  M.  Havemeyer,  the  Mer- 
chants' Insurance  Company,  the  Hamilton  In- 
surance Company,  Jordan  L.  Mott,  George  S. 
Hart,  Richard  C.  McCormick;  Rowland,  K, 
Hazard,  W.  L.  McFarlane,  W.  N.  Griswold, 
Chancey  Vibbard,  Nelson  A.  Cowdry,  Latham 
&  Co.,  Rogers,  Peet  &  Co.,  Clausen  &  Price 
Brewing  Company,  the  Merchants'  Insurance 
Company,  and  citizens  residents  of  New  York 
to  the  number  of  13,000,  all  of  which  have  been 
obtained  within  the  last  four  days.  Several 
hundred  members  of  the  Produce  Exchange 
have  also  asked  the  Governor  to  sign  the  bill. 
The  impression  is  almost  universal  here  that 
the  bill  will  be  signed. 


this  without  augmenting  current  and  threat- 
ened embarassments  on  the  surfaces  of  streets 
and  avenues  is  therefore  for  the  time  disre- 
garded. 


New  York  World,  May  14,  1884. 

Governor  Cleveland  withholds  his  signature 
from  the  Arcade  Railway  bill.  He  thinks  it 
isn't  possible  for  the  city  to  outgrow  its  rapid 
transit  facilities. 


New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,  May  14, 

1884. 

Grover  Cleveland  has  vetoed  the  Arcade  bill 
upon  grounds  that  are  mainly  technical,  or 
precautionary.  These  seem  to  him  to  suffice 
as  indicating  his  duty.  The  need  for  further 
means  of  swift  transit  in  the  city,  the  need  to 
relieve  existing  pressure  and  to  forestall  great- 
er pressure  that  must  quickly  come,  aud  to  do 


New  York  Commercial  Advertiser,   May   17, 

1884. 

The  proposal  to  pass  the  Arcade  Railroad 
bill  over  the  Governor's  veto  was  baffled  by 
the  illness  of  Judge  Low  and  the  eleventh- 
hour  defection  of  a  previously  counted-on 
Senator.  Some  Democratic  Senators,  it  is  un- 
derstood, who  favored  the  bill  were,  however, 
opposed  to  antagonizing  Governor  Cleveland 
this  year,  since  he  is  a  possible  candidate  for 
President.  We  are,  however,  of  opinion 
that  no  harm  will  be  done  by  waiting  in 
this  matter  for  another  session.  Granting 
that  the  scheme  is  feasible,  and  that  the  ob- 
jections to  it  can  be  fairly  disposed  of  with  due 
respect  for  the  interests  of  both  the  public 
and  property  owners,  the  passage  of  time  will 
only  make  these  things  more  clear,  while  the 
increased  pressure  on  existing  facilities  will 
furnish  stronger  argument  to  add  to  their 
number. 


New  York  Times,  May  17,  1884. 

Arrangements  had  been  made  to  pass 
the  Arcade  Railroad  bill  over  the  Gover- 
nor's veto.  A  canvass  of  the  two  houses,  made 
during  the  last  two  days,  disclosed  the  fact 
that  23  Senators  and  100  Assemblymen  were 
ready  to  vote  for  the  bill,  notwithstanding  the 
objections  of  the  Governor.  This  was  more 
than  enough  to  override  the  veto,  but  the  seri- 
ous illness  of  Judge  Low,  who  has  not  been  able 
to  be  in  his  seat  this  week,  and  the  defection  at 
the  last  moment  of  one  Democratic  Senator,  pre- 
vented the  success  of  the  movement  in  the  up- 
per house  for  the  lack  of  one  vote.  Several 
Democratic  Senators  who  desired  the  bill  to 
become  a  law  gave  as  a  reason  for  not  wishing 
to  override  the  veto,  that  this  is  a  Presidential 
year,  and  they  felt  that  they  ought  to  stand  by 
their  Democratic  Governor,  especially  as  he 
was  a  possible  candidate  for  President. 


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Ni;\\    YORK  ABCADE  RAILWAY. 


45 


1885 


Name  Changed  to  New  York  Arcade  Railway  Company 

Proceedings. 


Legislative 


Ken  York  World,  Feb.  2, 1885. 

At  a  Special  Term  of  the  Supreme  Court,  held 
at  the  Court  House  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
on  the  5th  day  of  January,  1885 — present  Hon. 
George  P.  Andrews,  Justice.  —  in  t lie  matter  of 
the  application  of  The  Broadway  Underground 
Railway  Company  for  an  order  changing  its 
name  to  the  New  York  Arcade  Railway  Com- 
pany. 

On  reading  and  riling  the  petition  of  the 
Broadway  Underground  Railway  Compauy, 
duly  verified  by  its  chief  officer  and  President, 
Melville  C.  Smith,  Esq.,  together  with  satis- 
factory proof  of  the  due  publication  of  a  proper 
notice  of  this  application  for  six  weeks  consecu- 
tively, commencing  on  the  15th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1884,  in  "  The  New  York  Journal  of  Com- 
merce,"' a  public  daily  newspaper  published  in 
the  city  and  county  of  New  York,  and  the  "Al- 
bany Morning  Express,"  the  State  paper,  from 
which  petition  and  in'oofs  it  appears  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  the  Court  that  this  application  was 
duly  authorized  and  directed  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  said  Corporation,  "The  Broadway 
Underground  Railway  Company;"  that  due 
notice  of  this  application  has  been  published 
according  to  law,  and  that  a  change  of  name  of 
said  corporation  from  "  The  Broadway  Under- 
ground Railway  Company  "to  "  New  York  Ar- 
cade Railway  Company  "  is  both  desirable  and 
proper  ;  and  that  doubts  exist  as  to  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Court  to  make  the  order  of  No. 
vember  17,  1884  ;  now,  on  motion  of  Gilbert  C. 
Walker,  attorney  for  the  petitioner,  it  is 

Ordered,  that  the  name  of  "The  Broadway 
Underground  Railway  Company  "  be  changed 
to  "New  York  Arcade  Railway  Company  ;  that 
one  copy  of  this  order  be  forthwith  filed  in  the 
office  of  the  clerk  of  the  county  of  New  York  ; 
that  another  copy  be  filed  in  the  office  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  and  that  a  copy  of  this 
order  be  published  once  a  week  for  four  weeks 


successively  in  "The  World,"  a  newspaper 
published  in  said  county  of  New  York,  com- 
mencing on  the  12th  day  of  January,  1885,  and 
from  and  after  the  9th  day  of  February,  1885, 
said  corporation,  heretofore  known  as  "The 
Broadway  Underground  Railway  Company  " 
may  assume  and  shall  be  therea-fter  known  by 
the  name  of  "  New  York  Arcade  Railway  Com- 
pany." 
A  copy.  Patrick  Keenan,  Clerk. 


New  York  Evening  Post,  March  7,  1885. 

Railroads  in  Broadway. 

Schemes  for  improved  transit  in  Broadway 
are  always  coming  up  because  there  is  a  real 
necessity  for  it,  but  it  may  well  be  doubted 
whether  a  surface  railroad  in  that  thorough- 
fan-  would  be  any  aid  to  or  improvement  upon 
existing  facilities.  Indeed,  there  is  much  rea- 
son to  apprehend  that  it  would  be  a  new  ob- 
struction aud  serious  impairment  of  our  pre- 
sent means  of  locomotion  along  that  crowded 
highway.  Street  tramways  are  always  a 
nuisance  to  every  species  of  wheeled  vehicle 
except  their  own.  Moreover,  it  is  the  nature 
of  this  sort  of  travel  to  aggravate  every  other 
difficTilty  when  an  obstruction  occurs  in  the 
street  from  any  cause,  since  the  horse-car  has 
no  power  to  move  sideways,  or  to  relieve  a  jam 
by  escaping  into  another  street,  but  must 
staud  on  its  own  gridiron  until  everything  is 
clear  in  front.  In  fact,  surface  railroads  in 
cities  are  behind  the  times.  Even  when  moved 
by  steam  power,  as  at  Chicago,  they  are  ac- 
knowledged to  be  out  of  date,  and  are  only 
tolerated  for  the  want  of  something  better. 
What  is  wanted  in  Broadway  is  something 
which  shall  greatly  add  to  the  existing  means 
of  transit,  and  not  merely  pour  another  and 
clumsier  class  of  vehicles  into  the  present  road- 


46 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


which  is  scarcely  sufficient  for  the  traffic  now 
crowding  upon  it. 

Broadway  is  admirably  adapted  to  under- 
ground transit,  by  reason  of  the  absence  of 
longitudinal  sewers.  The  enormous  difficul- 
ties which  require  to  be  overcome  in  London, 
by  reason  of  sewers  underneath  and  heavy 
buildings  overhead,  are  mainly  absent  here. 
The  Engineering  problem  is  extremely  simple, 
and  its  development  would  furnish  means, 
which  are  now  wanting,  for  disposing  of  elec- 
tric wires,  water,  gas,  and  steam  pipes,  pneu- 
matic tubes,  and  whatever  goes  underground, 
in  a  perfectly  satisfactory  way.  so  that  repairs 
and  additions  may  be  made  to  them  without 
disturbing  the  surface  of  the  street.  The 
never-ending  work  of  street  excavations,  re- 
quired to  meet  the  demands  of  city  life,  foots 
up  a  formidable  bill  of  expense  and  provokes 
endless  exasperation.  Gas  mains  leak  and  fill 
the  earth  with  niephitie  odors,  which  find  their 
way  into  stores  and  houses.  Water  and  drain 
pipes  burst  and  overflow  ;  steam  pipes  give 
way  and  blow  up  the  pavements  ;  elecric  light 
wires  need  overhauling,  and  whenever  any  ac- 
cident happens  the  street  must  be  torn  up  and 
repaved,  to  the  obstruction  of   travel    and   the 

detriment  of  property,  and  at  a  great  expense  to 
the  city  or  to  the  companies  owning  the  plant. 
A  subway  or  tunnel  which  should  provide  room 
for  these  appliances  and  furnish  easy  means  of 
access  to  them,  and  at  the  same  time  give  us 
rapid  transit  without  impairing  or  lessening 
the  surface  way  of  the  street,  would  he  a  great 
public  boon. 

A  method    of   accomplishing    all    these   ends 

was  sketched  in  our  columns  several  months 
ago.  The  plan  dt  scribed  provided  for  four 
railway  tracks  underneath  the  street,  two  for 
express  trains  and  two  for  way  trains, with  pas- 
sage on  each  side  to  accommodate  every  species 
of  existing  subterranean  pipe  and  wire,  includ- 
ing the  arc  electric  conductor,  at  sufficient  dis- 
tances from  each  other  to  provide  easy  aeeess 
and  to  prevent  interference,  with  eighteen  feet 
of  space  in  the  clear  on  either  side  from  the 
walls  of  buildings.  Tin-  plans  are  different 
from  those  of  the  Broadway  Arcade  Railway, 
in  that  the  surfaces  of  both  street  and  side- 
walk are  to  remain  exactly  in  the  present  posi- 
tion, there  being  no  change  in  the  ordinary  ap- 
pearance of  the  street  except  at  entrances  for 
passengers.  Tht  designs  have  been  madt  to 
corn  spond  with  tin  requirements  of  the  char- 
ter  grantt  iJ  t<i  tin  Ih  aili  I'm  a  ninth-  company 
about  the  time  that  the  elevated  railways  were 
obtained.     The  charter  has  been  amended  by 


the  Legislature  from  time  to  time,  and  the 
plans  for  the  proposed  underground  road  have 
been  made  to  conform  to  it  so  that  no  further 
legislation  is  required.  If  injunctions  or  legal 
obstacles  are  interposed,  they  must,  of  course, 
be  settled  in  the  courts,  as  was  done  when  the 
elevated  structures  were  first  projected,  but 
nothing  further  needs  to  be  obtained  from  Al- 
bany. 

The  rapid  increase  of  travel  since  elevated 
roads  were  put  in  operation  is  one  of  the  most 
marvellous  indications  of  city  growth  that  have 
ever  been  witnessed  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
The  Third  avenue  line  was  barely  able  to  ac- 
commodate the  traffic  the  first  year  of  its  exis- 
tence. The  travel  on  the  Sixth  avenue  lines  was 
of  slower  development,  but  has  now  swollen  to 
such  proportions  that  at  certain  hours  of  the 
day  the  down-town  cars  are  filled  before  reach- 
ing Forty-secoDd  street,  and  the  up-town  cars 
before  reaching  Park  Place.  The  accommoda- 
tion of  stiaps  for  passengers  for  whom  "stand- 
ing room  only"  could  be  provided,  was  the  si- 
lent testimony  furnished  by  the  Manhattan  Com- 
pany to  the  fact  that  their  carrying  capacity  at 
those  hours    had   been    overpassed.       Tin    unit 

of  additional  facilities  ./'<»■  ru/iirf  transit  will 
soonbi  "■-•  great  as  if  was  hi  1877.  The 
Broadway  undt  rgroundprojt  <t  st  <  ms  to  mt  <  t 
tin  requirement  with  no  detriment  to  private 
interests,  but  many  advantages  not  attaina- 
t,ti  in  nni)  otht  i'  way. 


New  York  Evening  Post,  March  9,  1885. 

Proapecta  of  the   Broadway    Underground   Kail 
way  Company. 

The  Broadway  Underground  Railway  Com- 
pany is  now  occupied  with  the  scheme  of  tun- 
neling Broadway,  and  represents  the  result  of 
much  labor  by  different  companies  who  for 
nearly  twenty  years  have  been  endeavoring  to 
begin  active  work.  As  to  the  charter  under 
which  their  company  hopes  to  go  to  work  with- 
in a  short  time,  Mr.  Qrosvenor  P  Lowry,  the 
lawyer,  who  is  interested  in  the  work  and  was 
counsel  of  the  Elevated  Railroad  Company 
during  its  construction,  said  this  morning  to  a 
reporter  of  the  Evening  Post  : 

"  The  original  act,  passed  by  the  Legisla- 
ture, June  1,  1868,  authorized  Alfred  E.  Beach 
and  others  to  construct  One  or  more  tubes  be- 
neath the  streets  of  the  city  for  the  transmis- 
sion of  merchandise,  etc.  The  act  also  gave 
the  persons  mentioned  the  power  to  organize 
themselves  into  a  corporation  under  the  '  Act 


NKW   lOIlK   ARCADE   HAILWAT. 


47 


bo  authorize  the  formation  of  corporations  for 
manufacturing,' eto.  In  August,  1868,  Alfred 
E.  Beaoli,  Horace  T.  Caswell,  Joseph  Dixon, 
and  Moses  S.  Beaob,  were  made  the  trustees  of 
of  a  corporation  organized  under  the  act  as 
mentioned.      On  April  '.»,    1 87.*i,   the  original 

act  was   amended    so    as    to    allow    the    Beach 

I'm  uniatie  Transit  Company  to  construct  an 
underground  road   for  the  transportation  of 

passengers  ami  meivhandise  from  Bowling 
Green  along  Broadway  to  Madison  Square, 
thence  to  Central  Park  and  Eighth  Avenue, 
with  a  branch  from  Madison  Square  to  the  Har- 
lem River.  The  tunnel  was  to  follow  the  cen- 
tre line  of  the  streets,  and  to  be  not  more  than 

thirty-one  feet  wide.    Another  act,  passed  June 

4,  1881,  extends  the  time  during  which  the 
road  may  lie  built. 

"The  time  has  at  last  come  when  there  is  a 
prospect  of  the  road  being  built,  I  have 
studied  the  question  for  years,  and  m  my 
judgment  there  is  a  better  chance  now  of  this 
great  work  being  accomplished  than  there  was 
of  an  elevated  road  being  built  even  after  a 
million  dollars  had  been  spent  by  the  Gilbert 
Company." 

Mr.  Melville  C.  Smith,  the  President  of  the 
Broadway  Underground  Railway  Company, 
said  : 

*  *  *  *  "  We  have  complete  reports 
and  plans  of  every  reasonable  scheme  for  do- 
ing the  work.        *  *        *         *         *  * 

"  The  exact  plan  to  be  selected  will  depend 
upon  the  decision  of  our  stockholders.  No  in 
terest  will  suffer  by  either  of  the  plans  ;  traffic 
will  not  be  interrupted,  vaults  will  not  be 
toucher,  the  pipes  will  be  cared  for.  Within 
ten  days  I  believe  that  the  plan  will  be  settled 
upon  and  that  work  can  begin.  All  the  money 
can  be  raised  in  New  York  city." 


New  York  Sun,  May  10,  1885. 

The  Broadway  Kailroad. 

The  General  Term  of  the  Supreme  Court 
has  conditionally  confirmed  the  report  of  Com- 
missioners in  favor  of  the  construction  of  a 
surface  railway  in  Broadway,  from  the  Battery 
up. 

It  is  obvious  that  better  facilities  for  travel 
through  that  great  central  thoroughfare  are 
much  needed.  Especially  between  the  City  Hall 
Park  and  Union  Square,  business  and  prop- 
erty on  Broadway  have  of  late  years  suffered 
perceptably  because  of  the  withdrawal  of  a 
large   part  of  the    stream  of    passenger   travel 


winch  seek*  the  parallel  avenues  along  which 

the  elevated  railroads  and     the    borSS  cars  run. 

Experienci  shows  that  when  ttu  transporta- 
tion facilities  an  best,  ordinary  trade,  and 
more  particularly  retail  trad*. ,  i>r<>*i><  rs  most; 

and  it  is  evident  enough  why  it  should  be  so. 
.Judge  Brady  remarked  in  his  opinion,  there.  As 
are  few  places   to   rent    in   Sixth   avenue,  but 

there  arc  many  idle  in    Broadway.      In  the I 

are  the  elevated  railroads  and  horse  cars  to 
carry  the  customers,  and  in  the  other  omni- 
buses and  cabs  furnish  the  only  means  of  trans- 
portation. 

Therefore  the  opposition  to  a  Broadway  rail- 
road, which  was  formerly  so  strong  among  the 
merchants  and  property  owners  along  the 
street — the  late  Mr.  A.  T.  Stewart,  for  instance 
— has  been  changed  to  eager  desire  for  better 
facilities  for  travel.  While  other  avenues  have 
gained,  Broadway  has  fallen  back,  although  as 
the  central  thoroughfare  of  the  town  it  has  in- 
comparable advantages  as  a  line  of  communi- 
cation between  the  upper  and  lower  city. 

But  a  street  railway,  a  slow  horse  railway, 
w-ill  do  little  good,  and  would  be  a  great  nui- 
sance, especially  between  the  City  Hall  and 
the  Battery,  where  the  vehicles  are  already 
often  blocked  during  the  busy  hours  of  the 
day.  Except  for  cross-town  travel,  and  as  feed- 
ers for  longitudinal  lines,  we  ought  to  have  no 
more  horse  railroads.  Neither  is  it  likely  that 
the  number  of  elevated  railroads  will  be  in. 
creased,  though  the  capacity  of  those  we  have 
is  altogether  insufficient  to  meet  the  growing 
demand  for  fast  and  cheap  transportation. 
They  are  unsightly  structures  at  best,  and  do 
not  seem  to  be  designed  for  permanence. 

What  Broadway  needs,  and  what  tin  city 
needs,  is  an  underground  railroad,  or  a  rail 
road  below  the  surface  of  the  street. 

The  best  /ir<ij>ct  yet  proposed  is  flu  Ar- 
cade Railway,  in  which  the  discomforts  and 
disadvantages  of  the  underground  railways  of 
London  would  be  overcome  and  altogether  ob- 
viated. 


X.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser,  May  13,  1885. 

The  Arcade  Railway  bill  was  advanced  in  the 
Legislature  yesterday.  New  York's  need  of 
some  more  adequate  means  of  local  travel  than 
now  exist  is  patent,  The  elevated  railways  are 
obviously  insufficient  to  answer  present  needs, 
and  the  need  is  very  rapidly  increasing.  If  a 
subterranean  railway  can  be  made  without  in- 
jury to  private  property,  it  should  be  favored 
as  far  as  possible,  and  any  well  guarded,  care 


48 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


fully  drawn  bill  to  authorize  the  construction 
of  such  a  railway  will  deserve  and  receive  pop- 
ular approval. 

New  York  Times,  May  15, 1885. 

The  Arcade  Railroad  bill  was  sent  whirling 
on  its  way  in  the  Assembly.  Objection  to  its 
immediate  consideration  sent  it  to  the  Railroad 
Committee,  but  it  speedily  came  back,  and 
everything  was  cleared  out  of  the  way  of  its 
consideration  in  the  Committee  of  the  Whole. 
This  bill  had  been  so  delayed  that  the  thorough 
consideration  which  it  ought  to  have  had  was 
impossible.  Tin  n  is  no  gut  "(ion  (hut  an  undt  r- 
ground  railroad  which  shall  afford  real  raj>iil 
transit  is  greatly  needed  in  this  city,  and  tin 
only  place  for  it  in  tin  down-town  section  is 
under  liroadwaij.  The  project  in  its  present 
shape  will  not  involve  excavation  under  the 
sidewalks  and  in  proximity  to  the  foundations 
of  buildings,  and  the  fact  that  it  may  interfere 
here  .and  therewith  private  vaults  which  extend 
under  the  roadway  ought  not  to  stand  in  its  way 
if  in  other  respects  it  is  properly  guarded. 


He*  York  Sun,  May  17,  1885. 

Tin"  BroadWajr  Underground — Contracts  Already 

Signed  for  tiie  Building  of  tin-  Kallroad. 
The   bill   extending   the    rights,  powers,  and 

duties  of  the  New  York  Arcade  Railway  Com- 
pany was  passed  by  the  Assembly  on  Friday. 
It  had  previously  passed  the  Senate,  and  it 
now  awaits  the  signature  of  the  Governor.  The 
company,  under  its  present  charter,  while  hav- 
ing the  right  to  build  a  tunnel  tinder  Broad- 
way and  other  streets  from  curb  to  curb,  or  44 
feet  wide,  has  yet  only  the  right  to  use  .'$.")  feet 
df  this  space  for  railway  purposes.  The  re- 
maining (.t  feet  were  to  lie  Used  for  the  placing 
of  the  sewer,  gas.  and  steam  pipes.  The  pres- 
ent bill  allows  the  company  to  use  all  of  the 
44  feet  for  railway  purposes,  and  the  company 
proposes  to  put  the  pipes  in  smaller  tunnels 
under  the  large  tunnel.  The  additional  9  feet 
of  railroad  space  will  enable  it  to  use  the  or- 
dinary size  of  railway  cars  on  the  two  inner 
tracks.  Four  tracks  altogether  are  contem- 
plated— the  outer  for  way  traffic  and  the  inner 
for  express  traffic.  At  night  it  is  proposed  to 
run  freight  cars  on  the  express  tracks. 

A  representative  of  the  company  said  yester- 
day that  none  of  the  private  vaults  under  the 
sidewalks  on  Broadway  will  be  interfered  with. 
except  where  they  run  beyond  the  curb  line,  as 
in  the  case  of  the  En  niny  Past  building. 


New  York  Sunday  Mercury,  May  17,  18S5. 

Underground  Rapid  Transit— Contracts  Signed 
for  Hnilding  the  New  York  Arcade  Kailway  — 
Pipes  and  Wires  to  Go  Under  the  Koad  Ued. 

The  bill  to  extend  and  supplement  the  rights, 
powers  and  duties  of  the  New  York  Arcade 
Railway  Company  passed  both  branches  of  the 
Legislature  and  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  Gov- 
ernor. The  road  is  already  chartered,  the 
courts  have  changed  the  name  of  the  corpora- 
tion from  "Broadway  Underground"  to  "Ar- 
cade," the  three  commissioners  appointed  by 
the  Mayor  to  supervise  the  work,  General  Eg- 
bert L.  Viele,  ex-State  Engineer  Sylvester  H. 
Sweet,  and  Naval  Engineer  Charles  H.  Has- 
well,  have  given  their  approval  to  the  plans 
as  made,  and  the  bill  just  passed,  as  we  under- 
stand it,  simply  makes  changes  which  are  de- 
signed to  promote  public  comfort  and  conveni- 
ence and  secure  rapidity  of  transit.  The 
changi  to  compel  the  placing  of  sewer,  gas, 
>rnt,  r  and  othi  r pipes  under  tin  road-bed  is 
designed  to  si  curi 

UNINTERRUPTED  KAPID  TRANSIT 

from  San  Francisco  to  the  Battery;  rein  re- 
us, under  tin  existing  charter,  through  pas- 
si  ngers  '!<  siring  to  go  down  town  would  in 
compi  Hi  ii  t<>  change  cars  at  up-town  depots. 

Without  tin    in  tr    Mil,   nim    Jut   of  tin    fort.'/ - 

four  feet  between  tin  curbs  must  he  given  up 
to  pipes  ami  wires,  reducing  tin  room  of  the 
company  to  thirty-fiw.  /<  1 1  for  four  trails,  and 
thus  compelling  tin  ust  of  small  cars,  and  ex- 
cluding fn  ii/ht.  Under  the  new  bill  any  and 
all  passenger  and  freight  can  be  switched  on 
the  Arcade  tracks  and  whirled  to  the  Battery. 
This  is  an  important  matter  of  public  com- 
merce, and  was  the  main  ground  of  passing  the 
bill.  With  the  Governor's  signature,  the  cap- 
acity and  usefulness  of  the  road  can  be  largely 
increased,  and  this  is  a  fact  which  will  weigh 
deeply  with  Governor  Hill,  who,  as  a  member 
of  the  Legislature  and  president  of  the  Senate, 
is  familiar  with  the  battle  of  the  people  in  the 
past  at  Albany  for  quick  transit  on  a  perma- 
nent foundation. 


New  York  Daily  Graphic,  May  21,  1885, 

The  Arcade  Kailway. 

The  illustration  in  to-day's  Graphic  gives  a 
correct  idea  of  the  Arcade  Railway  as  it  is  pro- 
posed to  be  built  under  the  amended  charter 
now  awaiting  the  signature  of  the  Governor. 
As  will  be  seen  it  differs  somewhat  from  the 
views  of  the  road  that  have  been  previously 
published,  although  it  preserves  the  general 


MAY    VOKK    AK<  ADK    IIAII.W  A  ST. 


Ill 


features  of  the  Arcade  plan.  The  present  plan 
was  designed  to  meet  the  objections  urged  by 
some  property  owners  against   last  year's  bill, 

anil    which    arc    supposed   to   have  secured   its 

veto  by  the  Governor.     It  is  now  proposed  to 

excavate  the  street  only  to  the  curl)  line,  leav- 
ing the  vaults  under  the  sidewalks  untouched. 
At  the  same  tiino  room  enough  is  given  in 
the  excavation  for  tour  tracks  of  standard 
gauge  and  also  for  the  subway,  in  which  are  to 
lie  enclosed  the  water,  gas,  steam  lllld  other 
pipes,  where  they  will  he  at  all  times  acecssi 
ble  for  repairs.  This  subway  is  to  be  built 
under  the  outside  tracks,  as  seen  in  the  illus- 
tration. The  outer  tracks  are  for  way  travel, 
stopping  once  in  every  four  or  five  blocks.  The 
two  inner  tracks  are  for  through  travel,  and 
will  run  at  a  speed  of  thirty  miles  an  hour, 
making  the  distance  from  the  Battery  to  Har- 
lem Bivei  in  twenty  minutes. 

The  arrangement  of  the  railways,  pipe  gal- 
leries, sewers,  Are.,  adapting  them  to  the  Ar- 
cade plan  within  the  curb  line,  was  designed 
by  B.  F.  Carpenter. 

The  present  charter  allows  the  company 
thirty-fivi  feet  for  its  railway,  and  requires  it 
to  build  a  vault  at  tin  sid i  sufficient  for  the  plac- 
ing of  all  pipes,  wires,  Ac,  which  would  oc- 
cupy the  entire  forty-four  feet  between  curbs, 
and  does  not  limit  the  width  to  the  curb  line. 
The  present  bill  does  not,  as  has  been  erron- 
eously reported,  give  any  additional,  width  of 
excavation,  but  confines  the  same  to  the  road- 
way, simply  allowing  the  engineers  and  capital- 
ists to  place  the  pipes,  wires,  &c,  underneath 
as  represented,  or  in  such  other  manner  as  may 
be  deemed  best,  but  within  tin  limit  of  the 
jorf>/ -j our  feet. 


New  York  Record  and  Trade  Reporter, 
May  21,  1885. 

The  Broadway  Arcade  Railway. 

The  one  act  of  Governor  Cleveland's  admin- 
istration  which  we  greatly  deplored  was  his 
veto  of  the  bill  authorizing  the  construction  of 
the  Arcade  Railway  under  Broadway.  The 
measure  had  received  the  approval  of  the  peo- 
ple's direct  representatives  in  the  Senate  and 
Assembly,  after  a  full  and  exhaustive  consider- 
ation of  its  merits,  and  of  the  plans  of  con- 
struction, and  the  arguments  in  favor  thereof, 
the  result  of  sixteen  years  careful  study  and 
most  minute  investigation. 

It  is  a  cause  for  public  congratulation  that 
the  projectors  of  the  scheme  are  not  dishearten- 
ed, nor  have  they  lost  confidence    in    the  ulti- 


mate success    of    this  great    and    beneficent 

enterprise.  In  behalf  ot  the  commerce  of  the 
metropolis,  the  property  owners,  house  tenants, 

and  the  tens  of  thousands  of  working  people  in 

the  city,  we  axe  glad  of  the  favorable  action  of 

our  law  makers  at  Albany  to  this  matter. 

London,  the  most  populous  and  thrifty  city 
of  Europe,  owes  its  superiority  and  prospei  itj 
to  its  grand  system  of  underground  railways, 
whereby  its  millions  are  safely   and    pleasantly 

carried  to  and  from  their  homes,  compelling  tin- 
city  from  time  to  time  so  extend  its  borders,  at 
the  same  time  adding  largely  to  its  material 
growth.  What  this  means  of  propulsion  has 
done  for  London,  the  Arcade  Railway  will  do 
for  New  York,  and  further  delay  in  this  im- 
portant movement  is  little  less  than  criminal. 

All  objections  as  relating  to  the  practicability 
of  building  and  operating  such  a  road  have 
been  intelligently  and  dispassionately  consid- 
ered and  as  candidly  answered.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  to  a  mathematical  certainty  that 
the  plan  is  feasible  and  can  be  successfully  ac- 
complished. Engineering  skill  and  science, 
architectural  talent,  and  ample  capital  combined 
agree  that,  given  the  legal  authority,  this 
pressing  need  of  New  York  can  be  brought  to 
a  triumphant  issue.  * 

Statesmanship,  commerce  and  social  progress 
ought  to  join  hands  and  bid  the  far  seeing  and 
enterprising  men  organized  to  build  the  road 
all  speed  in  their  well  matured  plans. 

The  Arcade  Railway,  when  finished  and  per- 
fected, will,  with  the  New  Y'ork  and  Brooklyn 
Bridge,  be  the  marvel  of  engineering  skill,  and 
popular  means  of  travel  of  the  Western  Conti- 
nent. 


New  York  Record  and  Guide,  May  23,  1885. 

The  New  York  Arcade  Hail  way. 

Among  the  measures  passed  by  the  late  Leg- 
islature for  the  improvement  of  New  Y'ork 
city,  was  the  bill  amending  the  charter  of  the 
Arcade  Railroad  Company.  This  bill  is  free 
from  most  of  the  objections  which  were  urged 
against  the  act  of  last  year,  and  which  resulted 
in  its  rejection  by  the  Governor.  It  is  hoped 
by  many  Broadway  property  holders  that  the 
present  act  will  meet  with  executive  approval, 
and  thus  permit  the  much-needed  improve- 
ment to  go  forward. 

Rapid  transit — a  thing  that  t/i<  city  has 
never  yet  had — is  the  great  awl  pressing 
need  of  New  York  at  this  moment,  and  air 
though   it  jnaj/  in   still  loni/i  r  iU  layt  d  it  is 

bound  to    cor/a     in    tin    end,    notwithstanding 


50 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PKESS. 


opposition,  whether  arising  from  ignorance, 
prejudict  or  self-interest.  It  van  never  conn 
from  elevated  or  surfact  railroads.  If  mast 
be  underground  transit,  and  tin  natural,  if 
not  tlir  only  feasible  route  for  it,  is  undt  r 
Broadway  and  along  tht  lint  designated  by 
tin  charter  of  tht  Arcadt  Railway  Compa- 
ny. Why,  then,  should  an  improvement  that 
is  ultimately  in<  vitablt ,  and  a  //resent  neces- 
sity to  tin  comfort,  convenienct  and  health 
of  the  grt  tit  mass  of  one  citizt  ns,  bt  longt  r 
delayed  f  It  will  hi  interesting  to  watch  tht 
Hin  of  argument  that  tht  opponents  of  the  Ar- 
cadt will  resort  to  this  year.  The  hill  which 
the  Governor  is  now  asked  to  sign  provides  for 
the  excavation  of  the  street  to  the  curb  line, 
and  does  not  interfere  with  the  vaults,  except 
in  a  few  instances. 

But  there  is  another  consideration  affecting 
these  vaults  which  the  opponents  of  the  meas- 
ure should  bear  in  mind.  The  original  char- 
ter of  the  Arcade  Company,  under  which  the 
road  is  to  be  built  in  case  the  amended  char- 
ter is  not  signed,  requires  the  company  to  pro- 
vide a  subway  in  which  to  enclose  the  water 
pipes  of  the  city  as  well  as  gas  and  other  pipes, 
where  they  can  always  be  accessible — a  work, 
by  the  way,  that  will  cost  the  company  several 
millions  of  dollars,  and  which  would  otherwise 
have  to  be  .lone  by  the  city  for  its  own  safety 
ere  long.  The  same  charter  that  requires  this 
limits  the  depth  and  width  of  the  exeavation, 
bo  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  provide  this 
subway  except  by  constructing  it  under 
the  sidewalks.  The  principal  amendment 
to  the  charter  now  awaiting  the  Governor's 
signature,  next  to  providing  four  tracks  of  the 
standard  gauge  and  thus  improving  the  facili- 
ties and    convenience  of  transit,  is    to    enable 

the  company  to  build  the  subway  without  en- 
eroaohing  upon  the  vaults.  Hut  if  the  amend- 
ment does  not  become  a  law  the  city  will  have 
to  revoke  all  the  permits  it  has  granted  and 
leave  the  property  owners  without  any  vaults 
in  order  to  enable  the  company  to  construct 
the  subway.  The  subway,  it  should  be  borne 
in  mind,  will  soon  become  indispensable  to 
New  York,  while  the  permits  for  vaults  are 
only  granted  as  special  favors  and  are  revoka- 
ble  at  the  pleasure  of  the  city  authorities. 
The  officers  and  engineers  of  the  company 
show  every  disposition  to  explain  all  the-  de- 
tails of  their  enterprise,  illustrated  by  full  and 
minute  drawings,  and  have  invited  the  press, 
Broadway  property  owners  and  the  public  gen- 
erallv  to  call  at  the  office  with  that  object. 


•  Governor  Hill  has  it  in  his  power  to  say 
whether  or  not  the  work  on  a  Broadway  under- 
ground road  shall  be  commenced  during  the  com- 
ing year.  Some  time  or  other  this  great  public 
improvement  will  be  undertaken  and  complet- 
ed to  the  manifest  advantage  of  New  York  city, 
and  more  particularly  of  the  Broadway  prop- 
erty-holders. But  the  Governor,  by  exercising 
his  veto  power,  can  delay  for  a  year  the  begin- 
ning of  this  enterprize.  The  amendments  to 
the  Arcade  charter  confines  the  roadbed  to  the 
space  between  the  curbs,  and  hence  does  not 
interfere  with  the  vaults  under  the  sidewalks. 
We  have  all  along  believed  that  an  under- 
ground steam  road  on  Broadway,  with  the  ac- 
commodations for  way,  through,  and  freight 
trains,  would  be  of  incalculable  value  to  every 
material  interest  of  this  city,  but  especially  to 
real  estate. 


N.  V.  Commercial  Advertiser,  May  k2<»,  lss.">. 

Waiting  Only  for  the  Governor's  Signature. 

With  the  Governor's  approval  of  the  bill 
which  has  passed  the  Legislature  incorporating 
the  New  York  Arcade  Railway,  the  work  of  ex- 
cavating a  tunnel  beneath  Broadway  will  begin 
at  once.  The  contract  for  the  underground 
railway  has  been  let,  the  board  of  seven  direc- 
tors has  been  chosen,  and  the  commission  to 
supervise  the  work  has  been  appointed.  It  is 
not   believed  that    Governor    Mill  will  veto   the 

measure,  because  of  the  general  approval  it  has 
met  from  the  Legislature,  and  because  Mr.  Hill 

himself  voted  for  the  project  some  years  ago. 


\.  V.  Record  and  Guide,  May  80,  1885. 

The  above  cut  represents  a  cross  section  of 
the  Arcade  Railway  as  it  will  appear  when  com- 
pleted according  to  the  amended  charter  passed 
by  the  last  Legislature,  and  which  is  now- 
awaiting  the  signature  of  the  Governor.  The 
excavation  of  Broadway  from  curb  to  curb,  a 
distance  of  forty-four  feet,  will  afford  ample 
room  for  four  tracks,  as  seen  in  the  illustration, 
without  any  encroachment  on  the  vaults  under 
the  sidewalks.  The  two  inside  tracks  will  be 
used  for  through  or  express  trains,  which,  with 
stoppages  a  mile  apart,  are  intended  to  make 
the  distance  from  the  Battery  to  Harlem  River 
in  twenty  minutes.  The  accommodation  or  way 
trains  running  on  the  two  outside  tracks  will 
stop  every  three,  four  or  five  blocks,  according 
to  the  necessities  of  travel,  and  will  run  at 
about   the  same  rate  of  speed  as  the  elevated 


NKW  YORK  ARCADE   RAILWAY. 


51 


road*.  All  the  trains  can  have  as  many  cars 
attached  as  the  accommodation  of  the  public 
at  any  hour  of  the  day  may  require.  The 
motive  power  will  he  either  electricity,  com- 
pressed air  or  cable,  thus  avoiding  all  annoy- 
ances from  steam,  smoke  or  cinders.  The 
pipe  galleries  underneath  the  two  outside 
tracks,  as  seen  in  the  cut,  are  for  the  enclosure 
of  water,  gas  and  steam  pipes,  electric  wires 
of  all  kinds,  and  any  other  subterranean  appar- 
atus which  the  present  OX  future  needs  of  the 
city  may  require.  Within  this  enclosure  they 
will  always  be  accessible  for  repairs  or  the 
laying  of  new  pipes  or  wires,  without  tearing 
up  or  disturbing  the  surface  of  Broadway. 
And  here  it  may  be  suggested  that  among  the 
many  incidental  benefits  which  will  accrue 
from  the  construction  of  the  Arcade  Railway 
will  be  the  solution  of  the  serious  problem  as 
to  what  shall  eventually  be  done  with  these  de- 
caying and  corroding  pipes  underneath  Broad- 
way, as  well  as  the  unsightly  telegraph  wires 
overhead.  What  the  Arcade  Company  pro- 
poses to  do  at  its  mm  expensi  will  very  soon 
have  to  be  done  at  th<  expenst  of  the  city 
should  the  road  not  be  built. 

The  roof  of  the  Arcade  is  to  rest  on  iron 
girders  supported  by  iron  columns,  and  the 
space  between  the  arched  brick  ceiling  of  the 
Arcade  roof  and  the  surface  of  the  street  above 
is  to  be  filled  in  with  asphalt, concrete  and  sand, 
thus  affording  a  firm  foundation  for  any  kind 
of  pavement  that  the  city  may  deem  best  for 
the  uses  of  Broadway.  This  pavement,  wheth- 
er   it   be   stone,  w 1    or   other  material,  will 

never  have  to  be  torn  up  or  disturbed  till  worn 
out,  which  will  be  another  inestimable  boon  to 
the  traveling  public  as  well  as  a  great  saving 
of  expense  to  the  city.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  while  the  primary  object  of  the  projectors 
of  the  Arcade  Railway  is  to  meet  the  great  and 
imperative  necessity  of  rapid  transit,  which 
can  be  met  in  no  other  way,  the  incidental  ad- 
vantages to  the  city  involved  in  the  enterprise 
are  scarcely  less  important. 

The  rapid  construction  and  early  completion 
of  this  great  work  is  now  assured  if  the  bill 
passed  by  the  Legislature  meets  the  approval 
of  the  Governor.  Strangely  enough,  the  prin- 
cipal opposition  to  the  improvement  comes  from 
a  few  Broadway  property  owners,  and  yet  pecu- 
liarly they  will  derive  the  most  benefit.  The 
opponents  of  the  enterprise  now  number  only  a 
small  percentage  of  the  owners  of  property  on 
that  thoroughfare.  Instead  of  injuring  their 
property,  the  construction  of  the  Arcade  would 
restore    Broadway  to  its    former  importance, 


enhance  the  value  oi  its  real  estate  at  least 
one-third,  and  render  it  the  finest  thoroughfare 
in  the  world. 


New  York  Times,  June  5,   1**5. 

Tli«-  Arcade   Kallwuy. 

The  Governor    will  hear  arguments  to-daj 

upon  the  bill  to  extend  and  supplement  the 
rights,  powers,  and  duties  of  the  Arcade  Rail- 
way Company. 

If  the  Arcade  railway  project  were  not  one 
which  promises  to  confer  inestimable  benefits 
upon  the  people  of  this  crowded  city,  if  it 
were  not  the  most  promising  and  satisfactory 
plan  yet  proposed  for  supplying  the  means  of 
cheap  and  speedy  travel  from  the  lower  end  of 
the  city  to  its  northern  limits,  and  if  the  need 
of  such  means  of  travel  in  addition  to  the  facil- 
ities afforded  by  the  elevated  roads  which  the 
city  has  already  outgrown,  were  less  imperative, 
we  should  be  strongly  inclined  to  agree  with 
the  Mayor  that  the  defects  of  the  bill  now  in 
the  Governor's  hands  are  so  numerous  and 
grave  as  to  make  it  his  duty  to  withhold  his 
signature.  But  the  conditions  to  which  we 
have  alluded  are  present  and  of  undisputed 
force.  Further  rapid  transit  facilities  are 
wanted,  and  wanted  at  once,  and  it  is  admitted 
that  they  will  be  most  conveniently  and  satis- 
factorily furnished  by  a  tunnel  road  under 
Broadway.  The  question  for  the  Governor 
to  consider,  then,  is  whether  the  great  and 
positive  benefits  the  act  would  confer  are 
outweighed  by  the  risks  or  injuries  to  which  it 
would  subject  the  city  and  its  property  owners  ; 
and,  secondly,  whether  subsequent  legislation 
may  not  cure  the  defects  now  complained  of. 

It  is  not  possible  to  give  any  corporation  the 
power  to  build  a  railroad  under  Broadway 
without  some  interference  with  property  rights 
and  some  temporary  inconvenience  to  the 
thousands  of  people  who  daily  use  Broadway. 
But  the  resulting  advantages  would  compen- 
sate a  hundredfold  for  such  injury  and  incon- 
venience. We  think  the  Governor  should  not 
be  influenced  by  objections  of  this  character 
unless  it  appears  to  him  that  the  bill  gives  the 
corporaticn  a  liberty  of  action  which  would 
permit  and  encourage  an  unnecessarily  great 
disturlyiUce  of  the  travel  and  traffic  in  Broad- 
way, and  too  extensive  an  encroachment  upon 
private  rights.  The  Govornor  may  dismiss 
from  his  mind  also  the  objections  that  engi- 
neering difficulties  and  the  enormous  cost 
make  the  scheme  impracticable.  If  the  road 
cannot  be  built  no  harm  can    come    of  the  en- 


52 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


actment  of  this  bill.  The  Arcade  company 
will  not  be  able  to  obtain  capital  enough  to 
begin  the  work  unless  it  demonstates  that  it  is 
a  practicable  road,  and  will  pay.  Nor  do  we 
think  that  it  is  at  all  clear  that  a  corporation 
holding  a  franchise  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth 
should  be  compelled  to  pay  the  city  for  the 
privilege.  A  tunnel  road  would  not  incumber 
the  city's  streets,  and  it  would  not  use  property 
or  occupy  space  that  could  be  devoted  to  any 
other  remunerative  purpose.  On  the  contrary, 
the  operation  of  such  a  road  would  greatly  re- 
lieve the  surface  streets  from  their  excessive 
burden  of  traffic,  and  would  add  many  millions 
of  dollars  to  the  taxable  property  of  the 
municipality. 

Yet,  when  these  minor  objections  arc- 
waived  or  overcome,  there  remain  two  others, 
more  serious,  upon  which  we  have  before  com- 
mented. These  are  that  under  section  5  of  the 
bill  the  Arcade  corporation,  whether  intention- 
ally or  not,  has  secured  the  privilege  of  carry- 
ing on  a  warehousing  business  in  the  later;. 1 
tunnels  extending  300  feet  under  the  si.le 
streets  ;  and  that  sections  7  and  8,  conferring 
the  power  to  issue  capital  stock  and  to  borrow 
money,  are  drawn  with  such  amazing  looseness 
of  language  as  to  leave  the  company  free  to 
conduct  its  financial  operations  upon  any  wild- 
cat principle  it  might  adopt,  and  to  borrow 
money  to  an  unlimited    extent.  These  tiaws 

ought  to  be  fatal  to  the  bill  unless  it  shall  ap- 
pear that  they  can  be  amended  out  of  it  by 
subsequent  legislation. 

It  being  evident  that  the  necessary  power 
exists,  it  is  for  the  Governor  to  consider  care- 
fully whether  the  corporation  would  be  able  to 
obstruct  its  exercise  to  such  a  degree  as  to 
make  it  impossible  to  remedy  the  defects  of  the 
hill  as  it  now  reads.  It  is  OUT  opinion  that  if, 
after  a  most  conscientious  weighing  of  the  ar- 
guments for  and  against  the  bill,  the  Governor 
should  affix  his  signature  to  it  be  would  confer 
upon  the  city  most  substantial  benefits,  whose 
enjoyment  it  cannot  afford  to  postpone  even  for 
a  single  year,  save  for  the  gravest   reasons. 


of  o«r  situation  ;  and  that  the  bill  now  in  the 
Governor's  hands,  which  promises  to  secure 
this  great  and  lasting  benefit  to  the  city,  ought 
not  to  be  vetoed  unless  it  can  be  conclusively 
shown  that  there  are  radical  defects  in  it. 


N.  V.  Commercial  Advertiser,  June  5,  1886. 

The  Arcade  Railway. 

One  by  one  our  contemporaries  are  coming 
to  the  view  held  by  the  Commercial  Advertiser 
from  the  first  with  respect  to  the  Arcade  Bail- 
way  scheme,  namely,  that  tin  city's  need  of 
such  a  road  is  impt  rutin  ;  that  only  a  Broad- 
way Arcade  road  can  m<<  t  tin    requirements 


New  York  Times,  June  tith,  1S85. 

Hearinsr  Before  Governor  Hill  -Engineering 

Features. 

Win,  .T.  MoAlpine,  engineer  of  $he  company, 
explained  that  no  hazard,  injury,  or  inconveni- 
ence shall  be  done  adjacent  buildings  or  prem- 
ises ;  that  travel  by  vehicles  and  pedestrians 
on  the  main  and  crossing  streets  shall  not  be 
interrupted  during  the  construction  of  the 
works  ;  that  the  constant  and  accustomed  use 
of  adjacent  buildings  shall  not  be  interrupted  or 
inconvenienced  :  that  the  constant  supply  of 
water,  gas.  drainage,  &c,  to  such  buildings 
shall  lie  continued  without  interruption,  and 
that  such  motive  power  shall  be  used  as  will 
not  vitiate  the  atmosphere  of  the  Arcade  or  of 
adjacent  premises.  The  completed  structure 
will  present  a  strong  and  durable  roadway  for 
public  travel,  far  superior  to  the  existing  one, 
resting  upon  a  solid  foundation  of  concrete,  sup- 
ported from  below  by  walls  of  niasonary,  iron 
columns  and  strong  iron  girders,  all  of  which 
will  endure  for  a  century  or  more,  and  each 
part  so  arranged  as  to  be  replaced  without  in- 
terruption to  street  or  railroad  travel.  The 
surface  pavement  will  never  be  required  to  he 
disturbed  for  any  purpose  whatever  until  it  is 
entirely  worn  out.  The  water,  gas,  steam  heat- 
ing, and  drainage  pipes,  as  well  as  the  electric 
wires,  which  are  to  occupy  the  ground  at  vari- 
ous depths  below  the  pavement,  require  to  lie 
taken  up  frequently  tor  repairs  and  replace- 
ment. In  the  plans  for  the  Arcade  all  these 
pipes  will  he  placed  in  open  vaults,  through 
which  the  inspectors  can  walk  and  hourly  ex- 
amine every  pipe  and  promptly  repair  or  re- 
place defective  ones  or  put  in  new  ones.  These 
examinations,  repairs,  and  replacements  will 
he  made  without  disturbing  the  street  or  rail- 
way works,  ami  at  less  than  half  the  cost  of  do- 
ing so  now.  I  have  from  time  to  time  sub- 
mitted these  plans  to  almost  all  the  leading 
engineers  of  the  United  States,  and  to  many  of 
those  of  Europe,  and  have  not  found  one  who 
has  not  expressed  the  opinion  that  these  ob- 
jects can  be  accomplished  by  suitable  en- 
gineering plans  at  a  reasonable  expense.  In 
regard  to  the  bill  under  consideration  its  main 
engineering  features  are,  first  to  authorize  the 
use  of  an  increased  width  of  VI  feet,  so   as  to 


Ni:\V   YORK   ARCADK   RAILWAY. 


allow  the  use  of  wider  oars  from  outside  rail- 
roads. The  sewer  pipes  will  be  carried  through 

open  work  iron  columns,  and  will  oot  interfere 
with  any  vaults.  The  whole  number  of  houses 
below  Fourteenth  street  is  860,  of  which  625 
have  vaults,  and  of  these  506  do  not  extend  be- 
yond the  curbstone.  The  proposed  iron  col- 
umns and  connecting  brick  walls  will  simply 
replace  the  existing  outside  walls  of  the  pres- 
ent vaults,  and  sub- vaults  will  be  made  by  the 
Company  which,  will  have  more  than  twice  the 
capacity  of  the  present  ones.  The  movable 
bridge  which  will  be  used  will  be  laid  down  in 

one  night  and  will  permit  all  work  connected 
with  the  Arcade  to  bo  done  without  using  the 
main  or  cross  streets,  and  hence  will  cause  no 
obstruction  thereon.  The  work  will  be  pro- 
pressed  from  six  different  places  iii  the  first 
four  miles,  and  the  forward  progress  from 
each  will  be  from  5  to  10  feet  each  day,  and 
the  whole  time  occupied  in  front  of  any  build- 
ing less  than  100  feet  front  will  not  exceed 
more  than  30  days.  The  largest  water-pipeon 
Broadway  is  3  feet  in  diameter,  and  they  are 
generally  from  12  to  21  inches  in  diameter. 
The  sewers  in  Broadway  are  generally  from  12 
to  18  inches  in  diameter,  while  the  largest  one, 
extending  for  five  blocks  above  Canal  street,  is 
4  feet  by  2  feet  8  inches,  and  the  cross  sewer  in 
Canal  street  to  the  North  River  is  the  same 
size. 

Law  Points. 

Mr.  Robert  Sewell  argued  as  to  the  constitu- 
tionality of  the  bill.  He  said  the  bill  does  not 
violate  any  amendment  to  the  Constitution. 
There  are  only  two  amendments  that  are  at  all 
applicable.  First,  there  is  one  prohibiting 
granting  to  a  corporation  any  exclusive  fran- 
chise. This  bill  does  not  grant  an  exclusive 
franchise,  because  the  company  has  an  exclu- 
■<ir<  franchise  already  for  building  a  four- 
track  railroad  under  Broadway.  This  it  had 
when  the  constitutional  amendment  was  passed. 
This  bill  gives  the  company  the  right  to  spread 
its  tracks  so  as  to  take  in  wider  cars  than  it  now 
has  the  right  to  use,  which  would  enable  it  to 
run  cars  of  the  standard  gauge.  The  bill  allows 
the  company  to  excavate  no  wider  space  than  it 
already  has  the  right  to  excavate — to  wit,  from 
curb  to  curb,  or  nearly  so — but  it  is  now 
obliged  to  put  water  pipes,  gas  pipes,  and  sew- 
ers at  the  side,  between  its  tracks  and  the  curb- 
stone. This  bill  gives  them  the  right  to  put 
those  pipes  under  the  tracks,  and  to  use  the 
space  thus  saved  to  widen  their  tracks.  The 
courts  have  held  that  where  a  corporation  is  in 
existence  and  has  forfeited  its  franchise  for  any 


reason,  the  Legislature  may  restore  the  for- 
feited franchise  without  violating  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  the  whole  subject  is  fully  treated  by 

the  Court  of  Appeals  in  the  elevated  railroad 
cases.      Neither  does  this  bill  violate  the Sd 1 

provision  of  the  constitutional  amendment, 
which  prohibits  the  Legislature  from  authoriz- 
ing the  construction  of  B  street  railroad  with- 
out the  consent  of  property  owners  along  the 
proposed  route  of  such  railroad,  or  by  order  of 
the  Supreme  Court  :  first,  because  this  bill 
does  not  authorize  the  building  of  a  railroad  at 
all.  The  company  now  has  the  power  which  it 
never  forfeited,  to  build  a  four-track  railroad 
under  Broadway.  There  is  no  need  of  grant- 
ing to  it  that  which  it  already  possesses.  The 
most  that  can  be  said  to  be  granted  by  this  bill 
is  a  provision  to  lay  wider  tracks  and  run  stan- 
dard cars  thereon,  which  is  a  very  different 
thing  from  granting  original  authority  to  build 
a  railroad,  which  is  what  the  constitution  pro- 
hibited, unless  the  property  owners  consented 
or  the  courts  so  ordered .  Secondly,  it  does 
not  violate  this  prohibition,  because  the  rail- 
road which  is  to  be  built  under  Broadway  is 
not  a  street  railroad  at  all.  A  street  railroad  is 
a  road  laid  on  the  surface  of  a  street,  which 
interfere  s  with  traffic  on  the  surface,  or  one  in 
the  air,  resting  on  the  surface,  which  would  in- 
terfere with  the  enjoyment  of  light  and  air  by 
property  owners.  It  is  very  proper  in  such 
cases  that  property  owners  should  consent,  but 
even  here  their  non-consent  is  provided  for  by 
giving  jurisdiction  to  the  court.  A  railroad 
under  the  street  interferes  neither  with  traffic 
on  the  surface,  nor  light  and  air,  and  property 
owners  have  all  enjoyment  of  the  street  which 
they  would  have  if  the  railroad  was  not  there. 
The  State  owns  the  fee  of  the  street,  sub- 
ject to  the  right  of  the  public  generally,  to  use 
it  as  a  highway  on  the  surface  and  subject  to 
the  rights  of  property  owners  along  the  street 
to  use  it  for  access  to  their  property  and  for 
light  or  air.  Neither  the  general  public  nor 
the  abutting  property  owners  have  any  estate 
in  the  earth  under  the  surface,  either  by  way 
of  a  vested  right  or  an  easement.  Hitherto 
the  street  under  the  surface  has  been  useless, 
except  to  put  pipes  in  and  hold  sewers.  The 
Legislature  has  a  perfect  right,  untrammeled 
by  any  constitutional  provision,  to  make  use  of 
land  under  the  surface  for  the  public  good,  and 
in  any  way  that  seems  best  to  do  it.  The  vault 
owners,  so  called,  have  no  ownership  at  all. 
They  have  a  simple  right  from  the  city  author- 
ities to  use  the  space  under  the  sidewalks  at 
sufferance.     This  right  may  be  recalled  at  any 


54 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


moment  aiid  the  vault  owners  cannot  complain, 
because  they  knew  that  when  they  built  their 
vaults. 

Charles  Kensell,  representing  various  labor 
associations,  presented  various  resolutions  from 
labor  societies  in  New  York  City  comprising 
over  60,000  members,  recommending  the  Gov- 
ernor to  approve  the  bill  as  a  great  boon  to  the 
poor  working  people. 

The  Governor  inquired  what  was  the  occa- 
sion of  the  bill  being  delayed  to  the  last  day's 
session,  and  asked  the  date  of  its  introduction. 

President  Smith  answered  that  the  bill  was 
introduced  in  the  Senate  March  11th,  with  the 
view  of  holding  its  place  on  the  calendar. 
Owing  to  the  fact  that  last  winter  the  principal 
objection  urged  was  that  provision  had  not 
been  made  for  the  building  of  the  road,  the 
company  decided  not  to  ask  further  legislation 
unless  a  contract  with  responsible  parties 
should  first  be  made.  As  this  required  the  se- 
curing of  several  millions  of  dollars,  and  the 
pledge  and  ability  to  raise  millions  more 
when  required,  the  negotiations  were  not 
closed  until  May  7.  "  On  the  morning  of  May 
8,  the  Railroad  Committee  of  the  Senate  wen- 
informed  of  our  desire  to  secure  an  amendment 
that  would  allow  the  putting  of  the  pi|>es 
underneath  the  road-bed,  and  thus  enable  us  to 
have  sufficient  room  for  our  cars,  so  that  passen- 
gers could  be  carried  through  to  the  Batter]  0% 
anywhere  on  the  line  without  change.  Sena- 
tor Thomas  asked  to  have  the  bill  printed  im- 
mediately, so  as  to  give  the  fullest  possible 
information.  The  company  had  a  man  remain 
in  Albany  to  carry  the  bills  immediately  when 
printed  to  our  opponents  in  New  York,  ami  the 
bills  were  thus  delivered  to  Mr.  Man,  Colonel 
Cruger,  and  others  of  the  opposition  at  the 
earliest  moment  possible,  and  as  soon  as  re- 
ceived by  us. 

There  was  no  desire  to  mislead,  and  every 
possible  opportunity  that  the  circumstances 
admitted  of  was  given  to  the  opposition.  The 
motion  in  the  Assembly  to  discharge  the  Com- 
mittee of  the  Whole,  and  thus  cut  oil'  amend- 
ments and  debate,  was  made  by  a  member 
opposed  to  the  bill  and  who  voted  against  it. 


self,  the  need  of  something  of  the  kind,  its  en- 
gineering features,  and  the  question  of  inter- 
ference with  private  property,  the  advocates  of 
the  bill  have  by  far  the  best  of  the  argument.  As 
a  plan  of  rapid  transit  the  underground  railroad 
is  very  promising,  and  it  would  meet  a  positive 
need.  Its  engineering  features  and  the  plans 
for  carrying  on  the  work  seem  to  be  admirable. 
There  is  not  tin  slightest  (/round  for  be- 
lii  ring  that  tin  foundations  of  buildings 
would  be  endangered,  and  th^  interference 
with  private  right*  is  brought  to  a  minimum 
and  almost  to  nothing  by  tin  very  character 
and  position  of  the  road.  The  constitutional 
argument  against  it  was  pretty  thoroughly  dis- 
sipated by  Mr.  Sewell.  The  real  objection 
that  has  force  is  the  lack  of  proper  restriction 
upon  the  financial  arrangements  of  the  com- 
pany, and  it  is  a  question  whether  so  important 
an  enterprise  should  be  deferred  until  that  de- 
feet  can  lie  remedied.  Defeated  we  are  con- 
vinced it  ought  not  to  be,  and  that  seems  to 
have  been  the  object  of  the  opponents  of  the 
bill. 


New  York  Times,  June  6,  1885. 

At  the  hearing  before  the  Governor  yester- 
day on  the  Arcade  Railroad  bill  the  real  defects 
of  that  measure  were  hardly  touched  upon. 
When  it  comes  to  the  merits  of  the  project  it- 


We  reproduce  here  Governor  Hill's 
veto,  in  full,  from  the  fact  that  one  of 
the  articles  quoted  herein  criticises  the 
Governor's  action,  on  the  assumption 
that  it  is  inconsistent  with  his  vote  on 
substantially  the  same  measure  while  a 
member  of  the  Legislature. 

It  will  be  seen  by  his  message,  that 
he  indicates  no  change  whatever  in  his 
views  in  favor  of  an  Underground  Rail- 
way, nor  does  he  raise  special  objections 
to  the  bill  itself,  but  bases  his  action 
upon  the  circumstances  connected  with 
its  passage  by  the  Legislature. 

New  York  Herald,  June  12,  1885. 

Veto  of  the  I  troail  »  ;i,\  Arcade  Bill. 

The  Governor  refuses  his  assent  to  the  Broad- 
way Arcade  Railroad  bill,  and  to-day  filed  with 
the  Secretary  of  State  the  following  statement 
of  his  reasons  therefor  : 

State  of  New  York,  Executive  Chamber,  j 
Albany.  June  11,  1885.      | 

Memorandum  filed  with  Senate  bill  No.  444, 
entitled  "An  act  to  extend  and  supplement  the 
rights,  powers  and  duties  of  the  New  York  Arcade 
Railway  Company."     Not  approved. 

It  is  urged  by  the  opponents  of  this  bill,  among 
other  things,  that  it  was  rushed  through  the  Legis- 
lature during  the   closing  hours  of  the   session  in 


NEW   STORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


indecent  haste  and  in  violation  of  every  legislative 
right  and  privilege  to  which  those  who  sought  to 
oppose  it  were  honestly  entitled.  An  objection  of 
tli !a  nature,  although  not  frequently  urged  before 
the  Executive,  is  nevertheless  of  great  weight- 
Objections  based  upon  the  manner  and  methods  by 
which  an  act  is  passed,  while  they  do  not  affect  its 
legality,  may  properly  be  entertained  in  consider- 
ing its  fairness  and  avowed  purposes,  and  some- 
times may  well  be  deemed  to  characterize  the  whole 
scheme  contemplated  by  the  bill. 

It  is  conceded  that  the  bill  before  me  was  not 
even  introduced  in  the  Senate,  where  it  originated, 
until  the  latter  half  of  the  session,  and  thereupon, 
when  its  opponents  applied  for  a  hearing,  they 
were  informed  that  it  was  not  then  expected  to 
press  the  bill,  but  that  if  it  should  after- 
ward be  urged  they  would  be  duly  notified  and 
afforded  ample  opportunity  to  be  heard.  The  bill 
was  thus  allowed  to  quietly  slumber  in  the  Senate 
Committee  on  Railroads  until  after  the  date  for  the 
final  adjournment  had  been  agreed  upon,  and  then 
was  suddenly  brought  forward,  and  only  a  portion 
of  its  opponents  being  given  a  few  hours'  notice 
of  a  hearing — a  notice  wholly  inadequate  for  the 
proper  preparation — and  it  was  then  speedily 
rushed  through  the  Senate  on  'Wednesday  cf  the 
hist  week  of  the  session,  and  reached  the  Assembly 
on  Thursday  of  that  week,  where  a  request  for  a 
hearing  was  denied,  and  without  amendment,  de- 
bate, or  opportunity  for  discussion,  and  under  the 
operation  of  the  parliamentary  device  known  as 
"the  previous  question"  it  was  put  through  that 
body  the  next  forenoon,  about  an  hour  before  its 
adjournment. 

Such  proceedings,  while  they  do  not  invalidate 
the  passage  of  a  bill,  nevertheless  violate  all  sense 
of  legislative  propriety,  and  bring  scandal  and  dis- 
grace upon  the  law-making  power.  The  withhold  • 
ing  of  important  measures  in  the  interests  of  pri- 
vate corporations  until  the  last  days  of  the  session, 
and  then  rushing  them  through  without  considera 
tion,  debate,  amendment  or  opportunity  for  scru- 
tiny, but  amid  confusion  and  disorder,  is  a  growing 
evil  which  must  be  checked.  It  affords  facilities 
for  corrupt  and  dishonest  legislation  ;  it  prevents 
a  candid  consideration  of  measures  upon  their 
merits :  it  opens  the  door  for  charges  of  unfair- 
ness, and  casts  suspicion  upon  the  integrity  of  leg- 
islators. 

Citizens  whose  interests  are  affected,  or  are  be- 
lieved to  be  affected,  by  legislation  proposed  in  be- 
half of  private  corporations,  have  a  just  and  equit- 
able right  to  be  heard  in  opposition  to  such  legis- 
lation before  the  proper  committees  of  the  two 
houses.  In  no  other  way  can  such  citizens  be  per- 
mitted to  urge  their  grievances  and  present  their 
arguments  before  the  Legislature.  Such  right 
should    be    jealously   guarded   and   stoutly   main- 


tained An  intentional  infringement  or  depriva- 
tion of  it  should  naturally  cast  suspicion  upon  the 
integrity  of  the  legislation  enacted  in  disregard  of 
so  essential  a  prerogative. 

This  bill  concerns  the  greatest  thoroughfare  in 
this  country,  and  involving  franchises  and  privi- 
leges of  immense  worth,  affects  not  only  the  int <  r- 
SStS  of  New  York  it  self,  but  the  interests  of  thou- 
sands of  its  citizens  who  are  the  owners  of  prop- 
erty of  many  millions  of  dollars  in  value,  Such 
citizens  are  entitled  to  a  reasonable  opportunity  tc 
be  heard  in  opposition  to  the  bill.  There  should 
have  been  no  undue  or  improper  haste.  Full  and 
ample  hearing  should  have  been  afforded  to  all 
sides,  and  especially  to  the  local  authorities  and  the 
owners  of  property  affected  by  the  proposed  legis- 
lation. Opportunity  for  debate  and  amendment 
should  have  been  extended. 

The  Legislature  itself,  as  well  as  private  corpor- 
ations, should  understand  that  the  citizens  of  New 
York  city  have  interests  and  rights  which  must  be 
respected. 

A  bill  upon  a  subject  so  important  as  this  should 
be  carefully  considered,  thoroughly  discussed,  de- 
liberately and  honestly  acted  upon,  with  full  op- 
portunity for  modification  and  amendment.  Its 
passage,  under  such  circumstances,  would  carry 
with  it  a  strong  probability  of  merit.  It  is  evi- 
dent, not  only  from  the  concealed  facts  pertaining  to 
the  introduction,  progress  and  final  passage,  that 
this  bill  carries  with  it  no  such  presumption  of 
merit,  but  also  a  bare  glance  at  its  provisions  shows 
conclusively  that  it  has  not  received  due  and  proper 
consideration  at  the  hands  of  the  Legislature.  It 
fails  in  several  essential  particulars  to  adequately 
protect  the  interests  of  the  city,  or  the  property  of 
the  cit'.zens,  or  the  rights  of  the  public.  It  per- 
petuates many  of  the  defects  which  were  urged  as 
objections  to  the  same  measure  one  year  ago  by 
Governor  Cleveland.  These  it  is  unnecessary  to 
reiterate  here.  The  bill  cannot  now  be  amended, 
but  must  stand  or  fall  as  a  whole.  The  objections 
might  have  been  obviated  had  either  such  fair  con- 
sideration been  given  to  the  bill  as  has  been  indi- 
cated it  was  entitled  to  receive,  or  had  the  measure 
been  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Railroad  Commis- 
sioners for  its  investigation  and  opinion.  That 
Board  was  created  by  the  State  for  the  very  pur- 
pose of  aiding  the  Legislature  in  determining  the 
propriety  of  railroad  legislation,  and  its  services 
might,  with  great  propriety,  be  oftener  sought, 
and  would,  unquestionably,  have  been  particularly 
valuable  in  perfecting  this  measure,  involving  in- 
terests of  such  great  magnitude.  Such  a  course 
was  not  pursued,  but.  on  the  contiary,  the  bill 
seems  to  have  been  hastily  prepared,  was  speedily 
progressed  and  pressed  through  the  Legislature 
under  the  circumstances  stated,  without  consulta- 
tion with  the  citv  authorities  or  the  indorsement  of 


56 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


the  Railroad  ( 'orumissioners,  or  the  approval  of 
any  public  official  or  body  whatever,  aside  from 
the  hasty  action  of  the  Legislature  itself. 

Under  the  circumstances  stated  I  cannot  ap- 
prove of  this  measure. 

It  is  desired  also  by  this  action  to  emphasize  my 
condemnation  of  the  offensive  and  ill-ad\  ised 
methods  invoked  in  its  passage,  in  the  belief  that 
such  a  course  will  prove  beneficial  to  future  Legis- 
latures in  compelling  the  introduction  of  bills  in 
the  earlier  days  of  the  session,  and  in  securing 
greater  deliberation  and  enforcing  better  considera- 
tion and  respect  for  public  interests  and  the  rights 
of  property  owners  while  enacting  important  laws 
at  the  instance  and  for  the  benefit  of  private  cor- 
porations. 

Legislation,  instead  of  being  the  fair  and  de- 
liberate expression  of  the  homst  convictions  of  the 
people's  representatives,  is  fast  becoming,  under 
existing  practici  s.  a  scandalous  mockery,  and  it  is 
a  fit  time  to  insist  that  there  should  be  a  return  to 
the  legislative  methods  of  earlier  and  purer  days, 
if  bills  are  expected  to  n  o<  ive  Executive  approval, 

DAVID  B.  HILL. 
N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser.  June  12,  1885. 

The  Arnidc   Veto. 

Governor  Hill  has  vetoed  the  Aroade  Railway 

bill.  So  far  as  it  is  possible  to  determine  from 
liis  own  statement  of  the  reasons  that  have 
moved  him  to  that  coins.',  he  has  vetoed  it  not 
so  much  because  be  regards  it  as  a  bill  that 
ought  not  to  become  a  law.  as  because  he 
wishes  to  rebuke  the  Legislature  for  its  man- 
ner of  passing  the  act. 

The  Legislature  of  1885  merited  rebuke  for 
many  <>f  >ts  deeds  and  most  of  its  methods, 
but  the  rebuke  certainly  should  not  have 
taken  the    form    of  a    veto    for    a    bill  of  great 

public  moment,  As  we  have  before  pointed 
out,  there  wen'  objections  to  the  Arcade  Kail- 
way  bill,  though  in  our  judgment  they  were 
outweighed  by  the  great  public  benefits  its  ap- 
proval would  have  secured.  If  Governor  Hill 
had  held  a  different  opinion,  if  upon  examina- 
tion he  had  reached  the  conclusion  that  the 
bill  was  one  which  he  ought  to  disapprove  in 
the  public  interest,  we  should  have  applauded 
his  course  as  statesmanlike  and  upright,  though 
in  our  judgment  mistaken.         *  * 

Except  among  <>  few  interested  persons 
who  an  disposed  to  stand  obstinately  in  tfie 
way  of  any  scheme  for  tin  improvement  of 
Broadway  traffic,  there  is  but  on<  opinion  as 
to  tin  peremptory  need  of  a  subterranean 
Broadway  railroad.  Even  those  who  havt 
most  earnestly  apposed  tin  Arcadt    billgivi 


willing  assent  to  thaty  But  in  order  to  in- 
duce capitalists  to  build  such  a  road  it  is 
tsary  to  grant  to  tin  m  such  franchises  as 
an  necessary  to  insun  the  financial  success 
of  f/tf  enterprise.  Without  such  (/rends  u-< 
shall  never  get  tht  road  upon  which  the  fu- 
ture prosperity  of  this  city   largely  depends, 

ami  i  it  rn  postpOTU  in<  at  of  tht   '/rant  pats  off 

the  ti na  when  the  road  will  be  in  operation, 

ami  to  that  i  .rti  nt  hurts    tht    prospects  of  the 

city. 

A  recent  writer  in  opposition  to  the  Arcade 
bill,  in  the  columns  of  a  contemporary,  has 
admitted  the  necessity  of  building  a  great  pas- 
senger rapid  transit  railway  under  Broadway, 
and  has  pointed  out  the  fact  that  under  exist- 
ing laws  it  is  possible  for  any  company  of  cap- 
italists to  organize  ami  build  such  a  railroad 
without  the  aid  of  a  charter.  But,  if  the  pros- 
pect for  profit  is  so  glittering  as  he  represents 
it  to  be,  how  is  it  that  Broadway  property 
"Win  is  or  other  capitalists  have  not  made  haste 
to  act  upon  his  suggestion  ?  And  why  have 
they  not  embraced  the  scheme  before  he  sug- 
gested it  V  There  is  plenty  of  unemployed 
capital,  and  in  these  days  10  percent,  dividends 
are  very  greedily  sought  after.  The  Arcade 
Railway  people  insist  that  no  Broadway  under- 
ground rail iraii  can  In  profitably  littilt  anel  op- 
•  rati  d  and'  r existing  laws,  and  that  the  special 
concessions  for  which  they  have  asked  are  nec- 
ry  to  enable  any  company  to  undertake  the 
work.  The  neglect  of  Broadway  property 
owners  and  other  capitalists  to  avail  them- 
selves of  the  opportunity  seems  to  indicate 
that  in  their  judgment  the  opinion  of  the  Ar- 
cade Railway  people  is  sound. 

For  ourselves,  we  desire  only  the  public 
good  in  this  matter.  We  do  not  care  the  value 
of  a  penny  for  the  Arcade  Railway  people  or 
their  interests — wherefore  the  critic  to  whom 
we  have  referred  regards  such  support  as  we 
have  given  to  this  measure  as  "  irrelevant  " — 
we  do  not  care  under  whose  auspices  the  rail- 
way shall  be  built,  provided  it  is  built  well 
and  speedily.  But  we  are  convinced  that  such 
a  n  >ad  is  a  great  and  pressing  necessity,  and 
we  deeply  regret  the  veto  of  this  bill,  because 
we  believe  that  it  will  postpone  a  sorely-needed 
improvement  to  the  hurt  of  the  city  and 
people  of  New  York. 


New  York  Times,  June  12,  1885. 

The  Governor  has  concluded  to  withhold  his 
approval  from  the  bill  to  extend  and  supple- 


NEW   YOIIK   ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


57 


ment  the  rights,  powers  and  duties  of  the  Ar- 
oade  Railway  Company.  We  Lave  heretofore 
set  forth  the  objections  to  the  bill  in  the  shape 
in  which  it  was  passed  by  the  Legislature,  and 
have  said  that  the  Governor  would  be  justified 
in  withholding  Ids  signature.  At  the  same 
time  we  have  deemed  the  construction  of  an 
underground  railroad  a  matter  of  such  pres- 
sing importance  to  the  city,  and  the  extension  of 
the  rights  of  tin1  company  so  essential  to  its 
successful  operation,    that    we  had    hoped  that 

these  objections  might   be  obviated   on  some 

reasonable    assurance    that    the  detects    of  the 

law  would  be  remedied  hereafter.  We  are  still 
of  the  opinion,  that  if  the  Governor  had  been 
fully  impressed  with  the  value  to  the  city  of 
the  proposed  scheme  of  rapid  transit,  he  might 
have  secured  from  the  officers  of  the  company, 
asa  condition  to  his  approval  of  the  bill,  some 
binding  assurance  that  they  would  consent  to 
amendments  which  would  remedy  its  defects. 
He  might  have  gone  so  far  as  to  sign  it  and  put 
on  record  his  suggestions  of  amendments  to  be 
made  hereafter,  trusting  to  the  next  Legisla- 
ture to  adopt  them,  as  he  did  in  the  case  of  the 
Collateral  Inheritance  Tax  bill.  Of  course,  he 
was  not  bound  to  take  either  course,  and  the 
Arcade1  Railroad  Company  will  have  to  wait  yet 
anotht  r  in  nr  for  the  proper  legal  basis  for  its 
project. 

The  company  has  already  tin  right  to  con- 
struct a  tunnel  road  under  Broadway,  but  it  is 
restricted  to  a  space  li">  feet  in  width  through 
the  middle  of  the  street.  This  is  not  sufficient 
for  its  purpose.  If  the  underground  road  is 
to  be  constructed  it  is  t  ven  more  important  to 
the  public  tlttai  to  tht  company  that  it  should 
fully  serve  th<  purposes  of  local  transporta- 
tion. It  should  lx  so  constructed  and 
equipped  that  it  could  run  cars  of  full  svn 
for  passengers  and  sera  tin  exceedingly  im- 
portant purpose  of  furnishing  a  down-town 
freight  connection  to  and  from  the  railroads 
entering  the  city.  For  this  it  would  need  a 
wider  space  than  is  now  allowed,  and  facilities 
at  intervals  for  transfers  and  temporary  stor- 
age, for  which  the  lateral  excavations  were  in- 
tended. This  privilege  of  lateral  excavation  at 
cross  streets  should  be  carefully  guarded,  but 
it  seems  to  be  essential  to  the  complete  useful- 
ness of  the  road.  A  work  of  this  hind  ought 
to  serve  as  a  means  for  rapid  transit  and  of 
quick  local  travel,  and  at  tin  sunn  timt  sup- 
plement to  thi  fullest  <  xtt  nt  practicable  tht 
existing  facilities  for  transfering  merchan- 
dise through  ttu  length  of  tht  city.  It  would 
need  to  have  this  scope   in   order  to  meet  thi 


full  requirements  of  tht  public,  and  it  would 
also  he  necessary  to  insure  tht  financial  sue- 
•  I  ss  of  so  costly  a  sc/n  me.  All  this  ought  of 
cnursi  to  be  accomplished  without  violation 
of  public  or  private  rights,  but  the  private 
injuries  would  be  small  and  easily  compen- 
sated, irhih  tin  public  In  ni jits  WOUld  I" 
great,  and  public  rights  COUld  he  fully  si  - 
cured  by  proper  legislation. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  the  bill  was  not 
brought  up  earlier  in  the  Legislature  and  sub- 
jected to  careful  scrutiny  and  full  discussiou. 
This  would  have  revealed  its  defects  and  given 
an  opportunity  for  remedying  them. 

*  *  *  The  Governor  does  not  show  that 
the  haste  with  which  it  was  put  through, 
which  was  in  reality  due  to  the  delay  of  the 
company  in  making  sure  of  its  financial  guar- 
antees, did  not  in  fact  result  in  a  perfect  meas- 
ure, but  he  condemns  such  haste,  and  so  far 
as  appears  in  his  statements  vetoes  the  bill  for 
the  sole  purpose  of  administering  a  rebuke  to 
the  Legislature.     ****** 


New  York  Sun,  June  25,  1885. 

Of  Course  They  Are  Full. 

Of  course  the  Broadway  horse  cars  are 
crowded,  and  the  railroad  is  proving  of  advan- 
tage to  business  on  the  street.  It  has  been 
obvious  for  many  years  that  trade  along  that 
central  thoroughfare  was  suffering  because  the 
lack  of  means  of  transit  which  Mere  provided 
in  other  streets,  but  which  were  kept  from  low- 
er Broadway,  as  if  it  were  a  sacred  avenue. 

This  railway,  too,  is  pretty  sure  to  be  one  of 
the  most  profitable  in  the  city,  even  if  it  does 
not  pay  better  than  any  other,  for  more  than 
any  other  it  will  get  the  most  desirable  busi- 
ness of  a  horse  railroad — the  short  trip  fares. 
People  ride  a  few  blocks  and  then  get  out  and 
make  way  for  other  passengers,  so  that  the 
number  of  fares  taken  in  on  a  trip  is  extraor- 
dinarily large. 

Jacob  Sharp  and  his  friends  and  associate's 
have  therefore  got  a  pretty  investment  in  their 
Broadway  railroad. 

But  the  eagerness  with  which  the  public  rush 
to  use  these  slow  cars,  with  all  their  inconveni- 
ences of  crowding,  blockading  and  delay,  shows 
how  greatly  we  need  rapid  transit  along  the 
Broadway  line,  and  how  much  it  will  benefit 
business  on  the  street. 

H'<  an  inclined  to  think  that  it  will  be  far 
mon  difficult  next  year  than  it  has  been  in 
tin  past  to  stir  u),  opposition  to  such  an  un- 
derground railway  as  tht  Arcadt  project. 


NEW    VOKK    AKCADK    RAILWAY. 


50 


SUBWAYS. 


Necessity  fou  Underghound  Galleiues  fok  Pipes,  Wires,  &c. 


New  York  Tribune,  Jan.  2,  lSs:$. 

Mayor  Edaon— Extracts  from  his  message. 

"  An  important  question  arises  here,  namely, 
whether  some  system  of  general  city  improve- 
ment cannot  be  adopted  whereby  this  fre- 
quent upturning  of  our  thoroughfares,  with  its 
consequent  disturbance  of  travel  and  of  busi- 
ness, may  not  be  wholly  prevented.  Here 
would  seem  to  be  an  opportunity  for  some  per- 
son of  enterprise,  or  for  some  private  corpora- 
tion, to  mature  a  plan  for  underlaying  tin- 
streets  with  a  single  excavation  which  shall 
provide  not  only  for  the  water,  gas  and  steam- 
pipes,  but  also  for 'telegraph  and  telephone 
wires,  and  other  appliances  which  the  public 
convenience  may  hereafter  require." 


New  York  Herald,  October  22,  1882. 

Underground  in  New  York. 

New  York  can  no  longer  afford  to  delay 
measures  to  secure  unobstructed  streets.  In 
many  years  past  there  has  seldom  been  a  week 
in  which  some  street  was  not  torn  up  and 
more  or  less  obstructed  because  of  necessary 
work  on  sewerage,  gas  or  water  pipes,  and  on 
many  occasions  the  obstructions  have  caused 
great  delay  and  loss  to  business  men  and  pe- 
destrians. The  annoyances  of  the  past,  how- 
ever, have  been  slight  to  those  now  in  prospect. 
It  would  be  hard  to  exaggerate  the  delays,  loss- 
es and  provocations  already  inflicted  on  busi- 
ness and  travel  in  Broadway,  Fulton  street  and 
the  several  other  streets  in  which  two  steam- 
heating  companies  have  recently  been  laying 
their  mains,  yet  we  believe  the  torment  is  t>  > 
be  repeated  by  still  another  steam  heating  com- 
pany, and  many  other  streets  are  yet  to  be 
torn  by  all  three  companies  working  separ- 
ately and  at  different  times.  Pneumatic  tubes, 
for  the  delivery  of  letters  and  small  packages, 
having  proved  successful,  they  may  be  ex- 
pected to  come  into   general   use   and   be  the 


cause  of  another  general  upturning  of  the 
streets.  The  public  will  not  much  longer  en- 
dure the  forests  of  poles  and  webs  of  wire  that 
the  telegraph  and  electric  lighting  companies 
have  erected  ;  all  of  them  are  unsightly,  some 
of  them  are  dangerous,  and  sooner  or  later  all 
the  wires  must  be  carried  under  ground,  com- 
pelling still  another  breaking  up  of  pavements 
and  earth. 

When  all  this  is  done  the  obstruction  of  the 
streets  and  the  sufferings  of  the  public  will  have 
barely  begun.  Every  time  steam,  pneumatic 
or  electric  connection  is  to  be  made  between  a 
a  house  and  a  main,  there  must  be  an  excava- 
tion and  a  partial  blockade  of  the  street. 
Whenever  a  break  or  leak  or  other  accident 
befalls  a  main  or  connection  the  street  must 
be  torn  up.  The  faculty  which  steam  possesses 
for  leaking  at  unexpected  times  and  places  is 
notorious;  there  is  scarcely  a  building  heated 
by  steam  in  which  leaks  do  not  occur  almost 
daily,  so  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  much  trou- 
ble under  ground  if  the  use  of  steam  becomes 
general.  In  the  general  increase  of  service 
through  underground  channels  and  the  modi- 
fications that  will  continually  be  required  by 
the  erection  of  new  buildings,  there  is  a  defi- 
nite promise  that  every  important  street  will 
be  more  or  less  obstructed  for  years  to  come. 

Thf  prospect  is  simply  unendurablt  ;  the 
public  will  be  deprived  of  millions  upon  millions 
of  dollars"  worth  of  time  by  the  unending  succes- 
sion of  obstructions,  aside  from  the  sickness  that 
is  always  caused  by  exposure  of  street  earth  to 
the  air  and  sun.  Relief  must  be  found  in  some 
way,  and  the  only  hope  of  it  lies  in  a  system 
of  tunnels  such  as  exist  beneath  the  p.ivemeuts 
of  many  streets  in  Paris.  Through  these, 
which  were  excavated  primarily  for  sewerage 
purposes,  pass  the  water  and  gas  mains,  so 
both  are  accessible  at  any  time  for  repairs  or 
connections.  A  similar  underground  system 
would  he  practicable  in  New  York,  and  the  en- 
tire cost  might  be  defrayed  by  rentals  or  other 
payments,    for   if  proper   excavations   already 


60 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS 


existed  the  corporations  that  must  lay  mains  and 
wires  under  ground  would  gladly  pay  for  the 
privilege  of  passing  them  through  an  accessi- 
ble tunnel  instead  of  burying  them  as  now  they 
do.  For  right  of  way  through  such  tunnels 
underground  railway  companies  could  af- 
ford to  pay  handsomely,  so  the  proposed  im- 
provement, instead  of  adding  to  the  financial 
burden  of  the  city,  could  be  made  the  source 
of  a  handsome  revenue. 

It  would  put  a  permanent  end  to  the  nuisance 
of  upturned  streets,  for  connection  with  any 
house  along  the  line  could  be  made  by  boring 
from  the  tunnel . 

It  has  been  suggested  from  time  to  time, 
when  underground  railroads  have  been  talked 
of,  that,  owing  to  rock  and  large  boulders, 
tunneling  is  impracticable  in  some  parts  of  the 
city.  No  sucJi  objection  exists  in  tht  minds 
of  practical  engint  t  rs,  and  there  would  be  no 
lack  of  competent  contractors  were  the  city  to 
ask  for  bids  on  such  work.  That  at  least  the 
principal  streets  should  be  tunneled  cannot  be 
doubted  by  any  one  who  has  seen  in  Broadway 
and  Fulton  street  the  beginnings  of  under- 
ground work  that  must  continue  for  a  long  time. 
Broadway  is  the  principal  business  avenue  on 
the  continent :  Fulton  street  is  the  principal 
line  of  communication  between  the  metropolis 
and  the  third  city  of  the  Union ;  neither  street 
is  always  equal  to  the  travel  upon  it,  even  when 
entirely  clear  of  obstructions.  Most  of  the 
avenues  and  many  of  the  cross  streets  are 
thronged  from  daylight  to  dark,  and  to  expect 
those  who  use  them,  or  have  stores  or  houses 
upon  them,  to  endure  continual  breaking  up  of 
pavements  and  soil  is  too  much.  A  general 
underground  system  of  mains,  tubes  and 
wires  is  im  vitablt ,  and  to  make  it  as  profit- 
able  hikI  useful  as  it  nun/  in  it  should  in  in- 
augurated at  once,  beginning  with  tht  streets 
t/iat  an  most  frequented. 


New  York  Evening  Post,  April  11,  1883. 

Underground  Telegraphs. 

The  overloaded  poles  and  the  network  of 
wires  with  which  the  city  is  encompassed  are 
an  eyesore  to  the  beholder,  and  a  standing  men- 
ace to  life  and  property.  Iu  cases  of  fire  it  is 
difficult  to  manage  ladders  in  front  of  burning 
buildings  which  are  fringed  with  a  cordon  of 
telegraph  and  electric  light  wires,  and  thus 
lives  are  lost  which  might  otherwise  be  saved. 
When  sleet-storms  come  and  a  heavy  coating 
of  ice  forms  on  the  wires  the  poles  are  thrown 


to  the  ground  with  violence  upon  the  heads  of 
men  aud  animals  passing  along  the  streets. 
The  network  of  wires  upon  the  roofs  of  build- 
ings impede  the  labors  of  firemen  in  cases  of 
conflagrations,  besides  being  an  intolerable 
pest  to  owners,  whose  rights  are  made  no  more 
account  of  by  the  electric  companies  than  by 
so  many  colonies  of  spiders.  Now  and  then 
some  exasperated  householder  goes  to  his  roof 
with  a  hatchet,  cuts  all  the  wires  on  his  prem. 
ises  aud  demolishes  the  fasteuiugs.  In  so  do- 
ing he  may  or  may  not  cut  the  fire-alarm  tele- 
graph of  a  neighboring  district,  aud  expose  it 
to  the  gravest  peril.  All  these  evils  and  diffi- 
culties are  multiplying  from  year  to  year,  as 
the  demand  for  increased  telegraph  and  other 
electric  service  grows. 

It  is  in  view  of  this  state  of  wretchedness 
that  the  public  are  likely  to  look  with  some  tol- 
eration upon  measures  like  that  which  the 
Board  of  Aldermen  passed  on  Tuesday,  but 
which,  in  order  to  be  made  effective,  ought  to 
be  supplemented  by  a  municipal  or  legislative 
requirement  that  all  wires  be  put  under 
ground,  by  some  process,  within  a  certain 
time.  Such  a  requirement  was  voted  by  the 
Common  Council  of  Chicago  some  months  ago, 
and  is  now  in  process  of  enforcement.  The 
time  is  not  far  distant,  we  think,  when  even 
more  comprehensive  measures  will  be  needful 
to  relieve  the  surface  of  the  city  streets  of  a 
part  of  its  encumbrances.  Tunnels  will  be 
brought  in  requisition  sooner  or  later,  not 
only  for  the  reception  of  telegraph  wires,  pneu- 
matic tubes,  water,  gas  and  steam  pipes,  but 
fur  tin  transportation  of  heavy  goods  between 

Jin  1 1  /mints. 


New  York  World,  Sept.  28,  1888. 

Impassable  lSroadway. 

New  York  has  practically  but  one  thorough- 
tare  through  its  business  section.  Broadway 
furnishes  the  only  means  of  getting  direct  from 
the  Battery  to  Union  Square,  or  to  any  of  the 
cross  streets  wherein  merchants  most  do  congre- 
gate. Despite  its  name,  it  is  all  too  narrow  for 
the  traffic  passing  over  it  on  any  week  day.  Yet 
there  is  hardly  ever  a  time  when  a  good  part 
of  its  surface  is  not  rendered  useless  by  some 
corporation  or  other  that  has  the  right  to  tear 
up  the  pavement. 

Will  there  ever  be  an  end  to  this  chaos  ? 
There  appears  to  be  no  end  to  the  list  of  those 
who  must  put  something  under  Broadway. 
To-day  it  is  a  steam-heating  company;  to- 
morrow it  is  a  gas  company  ;  the  next  day  it  is 


NEW  I011K  AKCADE  RAILWAY. 


(il 


some  other  company.  The  nuisance  is  a  Oral 
class  one.  It  not  only  interrupts  business,  it 
also  breeds  disease  and  leads  to  vexation  of 
spirit  and  that  irritability  of  temper  which  not 
[infrequently  is  at  the  root  of  crime. 

Ta  it  not  about  time  to  put  a  atop  to  thia 
constant  annoyance t  Whynotbuild a  tun- 
nel wherein  to  plact  all  theat  wires  and 
pipes  which  ham  become  a  necessity  to  com- 
fortabh  existena  in  large  cities  t  Tht  coat 
of  such  a  tunnel  would  bt  aaved  in  tenyears 
in  repairs  to  th(  street  alone,  not  to  mention 
tin- sari  Hi/  in  horae-fleah,  time,  health  and 
vhci  rfulness. 

Paris  has  utilized  her  great  sewers  for  this 
purpose.  Water  pipes,  gas  pipes,  telegraph 
wires  and  all  have  been  placed  within  them. 
Oin  8uch  initial  running  from  tht  Battery  to 
Central  Park  would  answer  New  York's 
nil dt  fur  sunn  linn  in  come,  and  it  should  be 
begun  at  onct . 


• bain    all    the   appliances  for    distributing 

water,   gas,    heat,    and    elect ricity,  and    should 

be  so  constructed  that  any  one  of  these  may 

nadily  be  got  at  for  purposes  iif  repair.  At 
present  the  sewers  are  hud  with  no  reference 
to  the  water  mains,  the  gas  mains  and  the 
ateam-heating  pipes  with  no  reference  to  either, 
and  the  electric  wires  of  most  of  the  companies 
are  not  laid  underground  at  all.  Add  together 
the  cost  to  the  city  of  laying  sewers  and  water 
mains,  and  getting  at  them  for  alterations  and 
and  repairs,  and  to  the  several  corporations 
interested  the  cost  of  laying  and  getting  at  gas 
mains  and  steam  pipes,  and  of  setting  poles 
and  stringing  wires  in  the  air,  and  the  ag- 
gregate  would  go  far  toward  meeting  the  in- 
terest upon  the  capital  required  to  construct  a 
system  of  subways.  And  such  a  system 
would  meet  all  the  various  requirements  which 
no  att  'nipt  has  thus  far  been  in  i  !-•  to  meet  by 
means  of  one  general  plan. 


New  York  Times,   Nov.   15,   1883. 
Wins  aiifl  Subways. 

The  multiplication  of  electric  wires  in  the 
streets  has  long  been  a  nuisance.  It  has  now 
been  shown  anew  to  be  a  danger.  The  Edison 
Company  have  wisely  chosen  to  lay  their  wires 
under  ground  without  waiting  for  any  legal 
compulsion.  But  there  should  be  a  compre- 
hensive and  radical  attempt  to  dispose  of  the 
question,  which  is  far  wider  than  any  possible 
extension  of  the  system  of  electric  wires. 

Subways  should  be  built  first  along  the 
most  important  arteries  of  traffic  and  commu- 
nications, and  other  subways  tributary  to  these 
could  gradually  be  constructed.  Every  sub- 
way, of   course,    should   be   of   a   capacity   to 


New  York  Record  and  Guide,  May  24,  l*s4. 

It  is  very  evident  that  some  time  or  other  the 
city  must  be  honeycombed  with  subways. 
Underground  New  York  has  developed  mar- 
vellously within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
and  the  time  has  come  when  to  avoid  the  in- 
cessant tearing  up  of  our  pavements  that  per- 
manent subways  should  be  constructed,  so 
that  sewers,  gas  mains,  steam  heating  pipes, 
water  mains,  as  well  as  telegraph,  telephone 
and  electric  wires  and  pneumatic  tubes,  can  be 
constructed  or  repaired  without  touching  the 
pavements.  But,  as  we  have  said,  the  con- 
struction  of  tht  Arcadt  mud  would  greatly 
simplify  tht  problt  m  of  making  use  of  eub- 
ti  rrant  an  Nt  w  York. 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


63 


MISCELLANEOUS    EXTRACTS. 

Passenger  Traffic  ;  Transit  Facilities  ;  Growth  of  Population,  &c.  ;  also 

Brief  Reference  to  Early  Legislation,  Gov.  Hoffman's 

Veto  and  the  Comments  of  the  Press. 


N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser,  Jan.  0,  1886. 

The  pressure  on  the  means  of  transit  nP 
and  down  Manhattan  Island  is  becoming  ex- 
ceedingly serious.  I  find  that  it  is  talked  of 
on  every  side  as  one  of  the  most  urgent  ques- 
tions of  the  time.  People  see  and  feel  this 
inconvenience  in  their  own  persons  from  day 
to  day,  but  it  can  only  be  fully  realized  by 
a  consideration  of  the  figures.  New  York's  pop- 
ulation doubles  in  a  little  over  twenty  years. 
It  is  estimated  that  while  numbers  increase  at 
— say  47  per  cent,  per  decade — passenger  traffic 
has  increased  during  twenty  years  past  at  near- 
ly 142  per  cent,  per  decade.  But  the  passenger 
traffic  in  1850  was  less  than  7,000,000  of  per- 
sons transported,  against  515,547  of  total  popu- 
lation, while  in  1885,  the  passenger  traffic  was 
full  300,000,000  against  (1880)  1,205,299  of 
population. 

One  need  go  no  further  than  this  to  perceive 
what  a  tremendous  demand  is  impending  for 
transportation  up  and  down  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  how  indispensable  it  is  that  suitable 
provision  should  be  made  to  meet  it.  The 
great  mass  of  people  do  not  care  two  straws  as 
to  the  means  which  may  be  employed,  or  the 
men  who  may  be  benefited  by  this  or  that  pro- 
jected line  of  rapid  transit.  What  they  do  care 
for  is  that  the  rapid  transit  should  be  had,  aud 
soon  had,  and  that  existing  lines  should  uot  be 
allowed  to  thwart,  by  trickery,  either  at  Albany 
or  elsewhere,  the  public  needs  and  will.  It  will 
not  answer  to  put  off  the  solution  of  this  prob- 
lem much  longer,  since  already  the  inconven- 
ience of  this  season  promises  to  swell  into  an 
unendurable  evil  in  the  next. 


New  York  Snn,  March  15,  1SS5. 

The  Arcade  railway  under  Broadway  would 
form  a  most  desirable  addition  to  our  present 
means  of  rapid  transit. 


American  Progress,  Jan.,  1886. 

The  Arcade  Railway. 

We  believe  we  are  safe  in  saying  that  the 
three  most  important  problems  that  confront 
New  York  City  to-day  are  :  The  introduction 
of  genuine  rapid  transit  for  both  passengers 
ami  fn  if//if,  a  satisfactory  disposal  of  the  dif- 
ferent classes  of  electric  wires  underground, and 
the  relief  of  Broadway  from  overcrowding,  and 
from  the  constantly  recurring  upheavals  which 
seem  to  be  a  necessary  part  of  the  present  sys- 
tem. 

The  elevated  roads  are  incapable  of  any  but 
the  slow  accommodation  trams,  which  waste  a 
large  part  of  the  running  time  in  the  frequent 
stops,  and  which  are  utterly  useless  in  the 
transportation  of  freight.  The  freightage  of 
this  great  city  is  increasing  enormously  year 
by  year,  and  the  difficulties  in  handling  this 
freight  multiply  daily,  involving  an  immense 
waste  of  time  and  money. 

In  a  single  year  15,631,609  tons  of  freight 
were  carted  through  New  York,  at  an  average 
cost  of  $3.07  per  ton  per  mile.  At  the  same 
time  the  N.  Y.  Central  carried  freight  for  7|  mills 
per  ton  per  mile,  making  the  cost  of  freight- 
ing from  Buffalo  to  New  York  City  less  than 
the  cartage  after  arrival.  Besides  this,  the 
slow  and  tedious  hauling  of  goods  over  city 
streets  results  in  much  damage  to  merchan- 
dise.     *         ******* 

Either  of  the  evils  we  have  mentioned  is 
sufficiently  formidable  to-day,  and  they  are 
growing  at  such  a  pace  that  uo  time  should  be 
lost  in  providing  some  effective  remedy. 

Of  all  the  remedies  proposed  there  is  only 
one  which  meets  every  phase  of  the  problem 
fully  and  perfectly,  and  that  is  this  Arcade 
Railway  system.  *  *         *         * 

As  the  track  will  be  of  the  standard  gauge, 
freight  trains  from  any  of  the  lines  reaching 
New  York  can  be   run   over  this  trunk  line  di- 


64 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


rectly  to  warehouses — saving  all  cartage. 
When  the  North  Eiver  tunnel  is  completed, 
through  trains  from  the  West  can  distribute 
goods  in  the  city  by  that  route — saving  all 
expense  and  delay  of  cartage,  including  on  an 
average  six  separate  handlings. 

The  plans  of  the  company  are  adapted  to 
any  form  of  modi  rn  motive  powt  r  which  will 
not  vitiate  the  atmosphere.      *        *  * 

The  main  question  is  the  public  good.  By 
far  the  larger  portion  of  its  patrons  would  be 
the  wage-earners,  both  male  aud  female.  Al- 
ready rents  are  too  high  down-town  to  permit 
working-men  to  live  there,  and  yet  they  must 
be  within  easy  distance  of  their  work.  If  a 
workman  can  come  from  Harlem  in  twenty 
minutes  he  will  prefer  to  reside  there,  both  for 
health  and  economy. 

From  a  sanitary  and  humanitarian  Stand- 
point ttu  question  it  of  vast  importance.  In 
a  portion  of  the  tenement  district  of  New  York 
there  are  packed  400,000  human  beings  in  a 
square  mile  of  area.  God's  free  air  and  sunlight 
are  hixuries  which  they  cannot  command,  as 
they  must  live  within  a  certain  number  of  min- 
utes from  their  work — tardiness  being  punished 
by  heavy  fines.  They  must  live  in  the  locality 
of  high  rents,  and  as  they  cannot  pay 
for  the  necessary  room,  they  are  crowded 
into  small  space,  amid  dirt  ami  vermin.  The 
observance  of  sanitary  rules  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  the  death  rate    is    as  high  as  1  in  19, 

while  that  of  the  better  wards  is  1  in  (*>(i.  Com- 
munities subjected  to  such  conditions  must 
necessarily  become  nests  of  vice  and  crime, 
and  the  public  are  taxed  not  only  for  hospitals 
in  which  typhoid  ami  oilier  patients  are  treated, 

but  for  jails,  courts,  penitentiaries  and  police. 

The   rapid    trains    ami    5-cent    commutation 

tare  of  the  Arcade  would  place  these  unfortu- 
nates in  country  homes,  with  plenty  of  breath- 
ing space,  healthful  physical  and  moral  sur- 
roundings and  cheap  rents. and  would  transform 
these  hopeless  toilers  into  prosperous  working 
people  who  would,  after  a  while,  own  their 
own  homes  and  bear  their  share  of  the  public 
burdens. 

As  a  question  of  municipal  economy  the  Ar- 
cade will  open  up  and  populate  a  large  district 
which,  in  a  few  years,  will  equalize  the  burdl  n 
of  taxation  which  now  bears  so  heavily  upon 
property  owners  in  the  lower  wards.  The  road, 
when  built,  will  add  $ 10, 000, 000  of  taxable  prop- 
erty to  the  city,  the  transit  facilities  will  had 
to  the  building  up  of  at  least  an  equal  value 
of  dwellings  in  the  upper  wards,  and  the  §80,- 
000,000,  at  three   per  cent,  of  a  fifty-per-cent. 


valuation,  will  pay  into  the  treasury  $1, 200,000 
a  year  in  taxes,  besides  creating  an  increase  in 
taxable  values  all  along  the  line.  Unlike  most 
great  improvements,  it  destroys  no  existing 
value  to  make  a  place  for  itself,  but  occupies 
the  land  under  the  street,  which  is,  up  to  this 
time,  absolutely  unutilized  and  unproductive. 
The  plans  of  the  company  are  as  complete  and 
perfect  as  engineering  skill  can  make  them, 
with  the  exception  that  the  original  charter 
gives  a  width  of  only  35  feet.  The  sooner  the 
Company  is  granted  the  privilege  of  building 
to  the  curb  line — placing  all  pipes  and  wires  un- 
deneath,  instead  of  at  the  side,  and  giving  the 
people  real  rapid  transit  by  a  four-track  road — 
the  better  it  will  be  for  all  the  important  inter- 
ests concerned. 


New  York  Evening  Post,  Feb.  11,  1685. 

Tin-    Rapid  Transit  Problem. 

A  very  interesting  table  of  figures  has  been 
compiled  recently,  showing  the  annual  growth 
of  passenger  traffic  in  this  city  during  the  past 
thirty-two  years.  From  less  than  seven  mil- 
lions, in  1863,  the  total  number  of  passengers 
carried  upon  all  railway  and  omnibus  lines  had 
arisen,  in  1884,  to  over  302,000.000.  Here  is  an 
average  increase  of  over  nine  millions  a  year. 
The  population  of  the  city  during  that  period 
has  a  little  more  than  doubled,  being  515,000 
in  1K50.  and  1.2(Ht.( in  1880,  while  the  pas- 
senger traffic  was  i:i  times  greater  in  1884  than 
it  was  in  1858.  Taken  by  decades  the  growth 
in  passenger  traffic  has  averaged  41  per  cent., 
and  the  growth  in  population  10  per  cent.,  a 
ratio  of  over  three  to  one.  During  the  seven 
years  in  which  the  elevated  railways  have  been 
in  operation  the  increase  in  travel  has  been 
very  great.  The  total  number  of  passengers 
carried  on  all  railway  lines,  and  not  including 
omnibuses,  in  1S77  wis  not  quite  104,000,000. 
In  1884  it  was  284,000,000,  an  increase  of 
120,000,000. 

The  full  significance  of  this  remarkable 
growth  is  understood  only  when  it  is  taken  in 
connection  with  the  travel  on  the  elevated 
railways.  This  travel  is  about  one-third  of  the 
whole  amount,  and  in  1KK4  it  was  a  little  less 
than  97,000,000,  or  28,000,000  less  than  the 
growth  since  1877.  In  fact,  the  growth  between 
1883andlH84  was  nearly  10,000,000.  These 
figures  explain  in  a  great  measure  the  crowded 
condition  of  the  elevated  cars  during  the  busy 
hours  of  morning  and  evening.  They  show 
that  instead  of  being  solved  by  the  elevated 
railway    system    the   rapid  transit  problem  is 


\i:\Y    VOI  IK   A  IK  JADE  HAIL  WAY. 


65 


still  with  us.  The  elevated  roads  arc  more  and 
more  inadequate  every  day  to  taeel  the  de- 
mands upon  them.  Every  prison  who  travels 
upon  them  knows  thai  between  eight  and  ben 
o'clock  in  the  morning  and  between  four  and 
seven  in  the  evening  it  is  with  extreme  difficulty 

that  a  seat  can  lie  found    after    a    few    stations 

have  been  passed.  The  managers  of  the 
companies  admitted  this  fact  a  few  years  ago 
when  they  put  straps  in  their  cars  for  unseated 
passengers  to  cling  to.  Mr.  Cyrus  Field  was 
so  delighted  with  tins  addition  to  the  comforts 
of  the  roads  that  he  announced  it  in  advance, 
and  then  awaited  with  confidence  the  outburst 
of  popular  gratitude,  which  he  was  sure  would 
be  forthcoming.  But  the  public  was,  as  usual, 
ungrateful,  and  though  it  is  obliged  to  use  the 
straps  more  and  more  each  week,  it  cannot  be 
said  that  the  growing  demands  of  travel  are 
completely  met  by  them.  The  fact  is  that 
these  roads  have  greatly  stimulated  travel 
all  along  their  lines,  as,  of  course,  they  were 
bound  to  do.  Stations  far  up  on  the  road 
toward  Harlem,  which  a  few  years  ago  were 
almost  deserted,  are  now  crowded  morning  and 
evening,  and  instead  of  finding  empty  trains  to 
board,  the  down  traveller  from  these  points 
now  is  obliged  to  allow  train  after  train  to  go 
past  in  the  busy  morning  honrs  before  one 
comes  along  in   which    he   can    find    a    seat. 

Below  Fiftieth  street  it  is  extremely  difficult 
to  find  a  seat  on  the  down  trains  of  any  of  the 
principal  elevated  lines  in  the  morning,  and  the 
difficulty  increases  every  week.  In  stormy 
weather,  when  all  the  pedestrians  are  forced  to 
ride,  the  crush  is  not  only  uncomfortable,  but 
must  be  a  severe  strain  to  the  strength  of  the 
structures. 

These  evidences  of  inadequacy,  which  every- 
body sees  daily,  are  explained  by  the  official 
figures.  The  growth  in  travel  during  the  seven 
years  in  which  the  elevated  roads  have  been 
running  exceeds  their  capacity  (>jj  23,000,000. 
And  this  growth  is  certain  to  continue,  while 
their  capacity  cannot  be  enlarged.  The  ratio 
of  increase  of  the  last  seven  years  would  give 
us  in  1890  a  total  passenger  traffic  of  over 
422,000,000,  and  ten  year:  later  this  would  be 
nearly  or  quite  doubled.  How  is  this  demand 
to  be  met  ?  Not  by  the  present  elevated  rail- 
way system,  for  that  is  strained  to  its  utmost 
capacity  now.  Then,  too,  the  question  of  w  ear 
and  tear  with  these  iron  structures  is  a  serious 
one,  aricl  will  have  to  be  seriously  considered 
very  soon .  Ten  years  more  may  render  the 
Third  avenue  and  Sixth  avenue  lines  unfit  for 
use,  when  they  will  have  to  be  rebuilt,  or  some 


other  system  of  travel   substituted.     We  can 

detect  on  the  purl  of  capitalists  now  no  dispo- 
sition to  build  more  roads  of  this  kind.  The 
probability  is,  therefore,  that  until  some  other 
Bystem    is    constructed    the   present   elevated 

roads  will  have  to  meet  the  demands  of  traffic 
as  well  as  they  can.  When  relief  does  conn-  it 
will  in  all  probability  lie  in  another  and  more 
enduring  form. 

At  best  the  elevated  roads  were  merely  a 
temporary  solution  of  the  transit  problem. 
They  have  never  been  able  to  supply  us  with 
one  of  the  pressing  needs  of  the  city — that  is, 
a  quick  and  direct  passage  from  the  lower  to 
the  upper  part.  We  have  never  had  a  direct 
connection  between  the  lower  part  of  the  city, 
and  the  Grand  Central  Depot,  A  man  can  get 
to  the  depot  now  by  crossing  one  or  two  bridges 
or  by  taking  a  cross-town  horse  car,  but  he  is 
able  to  get  there  almost  as  quickly  by  taking  a 
street  car  for  the  entire  distance.  The  need  of 
the  city  is  an  underground  or  viaduct  road 
four  tracks  in  width.  Two  tracks  should  be 
devoted  to  local  trains  and  two  to  express 
trains  making  a  stojJ  at  Forty-second  street, 
and  no  others  till  Harlem  is  reached.  Then 
we  should  have  rapid  transit  in  fact  as  well 
as  in  name,  and  it  would  be  on  a  solid  and  en- 
during basis.  It  is  entirely  probable  that  such 
a  system  would  not  seriously  impair  the  traffic 
of  the  elevated  roads.  Nine  people  out  of  ten 
thought  that  the  elevated  roads  would  ruin  the 
street  cars,  but  they  have  done  nothing  of  the 
kind.  The  combined  street  railways  carried 
twice  as  many  passengers  last  year  as  the  com- 
bined elevated  roads,  and  one  of  them  carried 
alone  over  31,000,000.  The  greater  the  facili- 
ties for  travel  the  greater  will  be  the  number 
of  persons  using  them. 


Commercial  Advertiser,  Dec.  17,  1885. 

New  York  and  Cable  Railways. 

New  York  is  only  at  the  beginning  of  its 
growth  in  population  and  commercial  import- 
ance. Within  the  next  quarter  of  a  century  it 
is  apparently  destined  to  rival  even  London  as 
a  great  capital,  and  however  well  cable  railways 
may  serve  little  towns  like  San  Francisco,  this 
great  metropolis  has  need  of  a  much  better 
system  of  communication  between  its  widely 
separated  parts.  It  has  need  also  of  its  streets, 
and  cannot  afford  to  give  them  up  for  specula- 
tors to  obstruct  at  will. 


66 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


New  York  Tribune,  Jan.  8,  1884. 

According  to  the  vital  statistics  of  the  Board 
of  Health  the  population  of  this  city  has  in- 
creased ten  per  cent,  in  three  years,  and  is  now 
1,350,000.  Another  indication  of  the  rapid 
growth  in  population  is  found  in  the  traffic  re- 
turns of  the  street  railways.  In  1880  the  horse 
railways  carried  148,968,369  passengers,  and  the 
elevated  roads  60,831,757.  In  1883  the  surface 
roads  carried  175,994,528  passengers  and  the 
elevated  roads  92,124.448,  a  total  of  268,1*9,- 
666.  The  total  increase  in  three  years  was  over- 
58,000,000.  For  the  five  years,  from  1875 
to  1880,  the  total  increase  was  43,000,000.  The 
number  of  passengers  now  carried  by  the  sur- 
face roads  exceeds  the  number  carried  by  them 
before  the  elevated  roads  were  built,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  the  omnibuses.  It  is  clear  that 
the  population  of  the  city  is  growing  rapidly  ; 
and  it  is  equally  clear  that  to  accommodate  this 
enormous  growth  of  travel  during  certain  hours 
of  the  day  there  must  be  provided  furth  r 
means  of  transportation.  Ofcoursi  tin  travel 
increases  in  proportion  to  tin  facilities  fur- 
nished.  There  are  some  portions  of  the  city, 
particularly  on  the  West  side,  which  arc  now 
very  inadequately  provided  with  means  of 
transportation  of  any  kind.  When  provision  is 
made  to  meet  that  want  no  doubt  millions  of 
dollars'  worth  of  property  now  Lying  unim- 
proved will  be  built  upon,  and  thus  much  will 
be  added  to  its  taxable  value. 


New  York  Evening  Telegram,  April  3,  1886. 

Freight  Transportation  In  the  City. 

A  great  drawback  to  New  York,  which  be- 
comes more  and  more  pressing  as  the  city 
grows  and  our  commerce  increases,  is  tin  lack 
of  adequate  facilities  for  tin  transportation  of 

j'n  if/lit  between  the  railroads  and  the  wharves 
of  sea-going  vessels.  The  present  system  of 
carrying  freight  to  the  lower  part  of  the  city — 
by  steam  power  through  the  streets — is  not  only 
very  slow  and  unsatisfactory  in  itself,  but  by 
monopolizing  certain  thoroughfares,  it  consti- 
tutes a  grave  hindrance  to  local  business  and 
traffic,  and  a  serious  danger  to  life  and  prop- 
erty. 

A  commission  has  been  constituted  by  the 
West  Side  Protective  Association  to  study  the 
evil  and  a  possible  remedy.  One  of  the  recom- 
mendations of  this  commission  is  admirable — 
namely,  that  a  tunnel  for  freight  only  should 
be  constructed  from  a  central  freight  station 
on  the  upper  part  of  the  island,  leading  to  the 


St.    John's  Park  Station,  and  with  branches 
along  both  river  fronts. 

The  great  advantage  of  such  a  scheme  to 
commerce  is  obvious.  If  carried  out  it  cannot 
but  prove  a  powerful  factor  in  increasing  the 
prosperity  of  the  metropolis. 


Record  and  Guide,  Maj  23,  1885. 

Sundry  Broadway  property  holders  are  still 
energetically  protesting  against  the  proposed 
Arcade  road,  yet  if  is  as  certain  as  any  sum  in 
urithrm  tic  that  st(  am  nn<h  r  Broadway  would 
double,  if  not  treble  the  renting  value  of 
i  a  ry  building  it  directly  affected  between  the 
Battety  and  Union  square. 

Our  Prophetic  Department* 

Brooklynite — But  what  great  improvements 
will,  in  the  meantime,  add  to  the  importance 
of  New  York  proper? 

Sm  (). — The  Hudson  River  tunnel,  upon 
which  work  will  soon  be  resumed,  and  another 
and  longer  tunnel,  which  will  enter  the  city  at 
the  Battery  and  make  use  of  the  Broadway 
Arcade  road, which  will  be  the  passenger  termi- 
nus of  all  the  railway  systems  of  the    country. 

Brooklynite — You  believe  in  the  Arcade 
railway  then  V 

Sin  O. — I  believe  it  is  the  most  desirable 
public  work  ever  proposed  for  the  benefit  of 
New  York.  It  would  prodigiously  increase  the 
commercial  importance  of  the  city,  and  be  an 
unmixed  benefit  to  real  estate. 


New  York  Journal  Commerce,  Oct.  19,  1882. 

The  destiny  of  this  city  is  to  rival  London 
and  Paris  in  beauty  as  well  as  size.  This  end 
can  never  be  attained  while  hideous  frameworks 
of  iron  disfigure  nearly  all  the  principal  ave- 
nues. Such  tilings  may  be  tolerated  in  small 
places,  but  not  in  the  metropolis  of  America. 
Here,  as  in  London,  the  growth  of  the  city, 
the  increase  of  population,  the  demands  of 
business,  the  safety,  comfort  and  convenience 
of  the  public  will  at  last  require  the  under- 
ground lines  as  the  only  means  of  rapid  transit 
suitable  for  a  city  of  the  first  rank.  There 
is  no  known  reason  why  such  roads  cannot  be 
as  easily  and  as  cheaply  constructed  in  New 
York  as  in  London,  and  prove  as  satisfactory 
to  the  people  who  use  them,  and  as  profitable 
to  their  owners. 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


«7 


X.  v.  Commercial  Advertiser,  Hay  28,  1885. 

The   Arcade   Kitilwiiy. 

New  York  imperatively  needs  an  under- 
ground or  Arcade  railway.  The  elevated  rail- 
roads arc  not  only  unsightly  structures,  but 
they  have  distinctly  failed  to  furnish  the  rapid 
transit  that  this  city  requires.  The  transit 
they  give  is  not  rapid  enough,  and  there  is  not 
nearly  enough  of  it.  The  oiroumstanoes  of  the 
case  do  not  permit  them  to  run  trains  at  a 
proper  rate  of  speed,  and  the  geographical  pe- 
culiarities of  the  city  do  not  lend  themselves  to 
a  sufficient  multiplication  of  such  lines  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  public. 

The  exigencies  of  the  situation  seem  to  be 
met  by  the  proposed  Broadway  Arcade  Rail- 
road plan.  We  need  a  quadruple  railroad, 
underground,  from  the  Battery  to  Harlem,  on 
which  express  trains  can  be  run  through  with- 
out stoppage — thereby  bringing  the  upper 
wards  within  easy  and  rapid  communication 
with  the  business  region,  and  so  enlarging  the 
practically  habitable  part  of  the  city — and  on 
which,  without  interference  with  express  trains, 
way  trains  can  be  run  at  a  high  rate  of  speed  and 
in  rapid  succession.  In  a  word,  the  plan  of  the 
Arcadt  Railway  is  admirably  adapted  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  and  no  other  plan 
that  has  every  been  suggested  is. 


New  York  Record  and  Guide,  Nov.  24,  1885. 

Mr.  K. — What  other  improvements  do  you 
see  ahead  ? 

Sir  Oracle. — The  greatest  of  all  I  have  yet 
to  mention.  It  is  the  creation  of  a  new  street 
under  Broadway,  from  the  Battery  up  to  Union 
square, connecting  with  two  branches,onein  the 
direction  of  the  Grand  Central  Depot  and  the 
other  following  the  line  of  Broadway  up  to  the 
Harlem  River.  This  will  not  be  a  mere  tun- 
nel to  convey  passengers  by  steam  but  a  ver- 
itable street  wider  than  Broadway  itself,  with 
shops  where  there  are  now  basements,  well 
lighted  by  day  and  night  and  a  favorite  promen- 
ade for  ladies  and  others,  who  will  be  protected 
from  the  fierce  rays  of  the  sun  in  summer  and 
from  the  cold  blasts  of  wind  in  winter,  as  well 
as  from  storms  in  all  seasons.  The  centre  of 
the  street  will  be  used  for  cars,  not  only  for 
local  passenger  traffic,  but  for  bringing  freight 
directly  to  the  stores  where  the  goods  are  sold. 
This  Arcade  road  will  bt  oru  of  tht  wonders 
of  the  world.  It  will  make  Broadway  realty 
more  valuable  than  Wall  street  property  is  to- 
day. 


New  York  Star,  July  81,  1884. 

Siiti>f»ctory   Itupid  Transit. 

An  article  in  the  current  issue  of  the  Sani- 
tary Engineer,  revealing  the  many  meritori- 
ous features  of  the  Metropolitan  Underground 
Railway  in  London,  confirm  and  emphasizes 
the  views  heretofore  expressed  in  these  col- 
umns relative  to  the  best  solution  of  tin;  rapid 
transit  problem  in  OUT  own  city.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  what  has  been  recently  accom- 
plished. 

The  last  completed  section  of  this  magnifi- 
cent work,  from  the  Mansion  House  to  the 
Tower,  a  distance  of  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile,  has  been  executed  within  the  last  twenty 
months,  and  runs  "beneath  residences,  ware- 
houses and  roadways,  and  in  all  the  difficult 
labors  of  undermining,  propping  and  building 
there  has  not  been  a  single  accident."  Enor- 
mous warehouses,  containing  iron  safes  and 
strong  boxes,  have  been  tunneled  under  with- 
out disturbing  their  contents,  and  the  statue 
of  King  William,  which,  with  its  pedestal, 
weighs  179  tons,  has  been  underpinned  and 
rests  on  an  arch  of  the  tunnel.  Large  trees 
have  been  undermined  and  underpinned  with- 
out removal  or  injury.  The  result  is  that  there 
is  a  substantial  roadway  on  which  the  heaviest 
trains  can  run  at  high  speed,  and  passengers  can 
go  from  point  to  point  in  London  without  creep- 
ing at  twelve  miles  an  hour  on  a  structure 
which  sheds  bolts  and  nuts  and  rivet-heads 
down  on  the  heads  of  the  passers-by  and  re- 
quires constant  repairs,  while  the  gas  and 
smoke  and  noise  offend  the  innocent  dwellers 
alongside  the  line  of  travel. 

While  we  are  proposing  various  makeshifts 
in  New  York  and  Brooklyn — we  may  as  well  re- 
alize in  time  that  they  are  only  makeshifts — and 
that  in  the  long  run  we  must  adopt  the  under- 
ground system,  in  the  form  of  either  tunnel  or 
Arcade.  The  existing  roads  are  inadequate  to 
the  traffic  crowding  upon  them,  and  the  people 
of  the  metropolis  will  sacrifice  no  more  of  their 
streets  to  such  unsightly  and  obnoxious  struc- 
tures. The  depressed-cable  system  is  desira- 
ble only  for  comparatively  short  distances  ;  it 
cannot  furnish  real  rapid  transit  for  a  city  of 
the  shape  and  extent  of  New  York.  We  must 
in  the  long  ran  have  recourse  to  the  under- 
ground plan,  and  the  sooner  we  prepare  for 
it  th<  hi  tti  r. 


>'.  Y.  Record  and  Guide,  March  21,  1885. 

If  ever  the  Arcade  road  is  built  and  it  half  ful- 
fills the  expectations  of  its  promoters,  there  will 


68 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PKESS. 


be  a  nionunieut  erected  at  sometime  in  honor  of 
Melville  C.  Smith,  who  originally  projected  this 
splendid  and  far-reaching  improvement.  He 
has  been  at  work  at  this  matter  for  fifteen  years, 
and  the  resoiirces  he  has  brought  into  play  in 
carrying  out  his  plan  have  been  simply  mar- 
vellous. Mr.  Smith  is  gifted  with  wonder- 
ful power  of  statement,  and  any  official  or  cap- 
italist with  whom  he  has  personal  conference 
is  always  finally  convinced  by  his  cogent  argu- 
ments. 


Eakly  Legislation,  1870,  &c. 


Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle,  May  3,  1884. 

Travel  Within  Cities. 

The  president  of  the  Broadway  Arcade  Rail- 
road Company  has  prepared  sonic  interesting 
statistic  of  travel  within  the  City  of  New  York 
during  the  last  thirty  years.  In  that  time  the 
population  of  the  town  lias  vastly  increased, 
and  we  should  expect  to  find  that  the  number 
of  passengers  in  cars  and  omnibuses  had  mul- 
tiplied accordingly.  The  population  in  1853 
was  about  550,000.  In  1883  it  was  about 
1,200,000  or  more  than  twice  as  great.  It 
would  follow,  estimating  upon  this  increase  of 
population,  that  nearly  two  and  a  half  times 
as  many  persons  rode  in  the  public  vehicles  in 
the  later  as  in  the  earlier  year-.  But  the  pro- 
portion is  enormously  larger.  The  following 
shows  how  often  each  inhabitant  rode  in  the 
cars  in  the  year  specified  : 

In  1853 12  times. 

In  1855 31  times. 

In  18(50 47  timea. 

In  1865 83  times. 

In  1870 122  times. 

In  1875 155  times. 

In  1880 175  times. 

In  1883 215  times. 

In  1853,  therefore,  there  were  about  11,600,- 
000  passengers.  Allowing  only  for  the  increase 
in  population  there  would  have  been  in  1883 
some  14,400,000  passengers.  But  there  were 
in  fact  268,000,000.  .Sb  then,  instead  ofleaa 
than  two  and  a  half  timea  oa  maun  n'il<  r«,  aa 
there  would  hove  been  according  to  popula- 
tion, then  wen  over  thirty-eight  timea  oa 
many.  This  shows  that  flu  rutin  of  travel 
within  the  city  is  not  <l<  termint  d  by  tht  num- 
l>i  r  of  inhabitants.  It  is  affi ■■<■/<  <l  far  mon 
by  the- facilities  for  travel.  With  more  and 
better  lines  and  cheaper  fares  the  number  of 
passengers  will  increase  even  if  the  population 
remain  stationary.  While  every  inhabitant  of 
New  York  rode  twelve  times  a  year  in  1>53, 
he  rode  215  times  in  1883,  or  nearly  eighteen 
times  as  often. 


The  Arcade  has  the  endorsement  of  nearly 
every  engineer  in  the  State  of  New  York  and 
of  others  who  have  personally  examined  and 
made  a  study  of  the  tunnel  in  London.  One 
thing  commendable  in  this  bill  is,  that  it  is 
not  pushed  by  the  regular  lobbyists  who  in- 
fest Albany  year  after  year.  Had  such  a  rail- 
road been  constructed  ten  years  ago,  four  hun- 
dred thousand  people  and  hundreds  of  mil- 
lions worth  of  property  would  have  been  saved 
to  the  State. — New  York  Tribune. 

It  gives  a  long-suffering  New  Yorker  carious 
feelings  to  read  that  the  city  is  at  last  likely  to 
have  a  serviceable  steam  railroad.  The  Arcade 
Railroad  bill  seems  now  sure  to  pass  ;  the  pro- 
ject is  an  excellent  one  in  every  way,  and  the 
Legislature  which  gives  us  this  rond  will  be 
gratefully  remembered  by  the  people. 

Our  Albany  correspondent  gives  an  interest- 
ing account  of  the  mnaner  in  which  the  project 
has  been  recommended  to  the  Legislature. 
"In  the  Assembly  it  was  moved  into  the 
Committee  of  the  Whole  by  Mr.  John  H.  Sel- 
kreg,  of  Tompkins,  and  managed  by  ex-Speaker 
Pitts.  With  such  men  to  befriend  it  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  add  that  it  was  read 
through,  reported  complete  to  the  Assembly, 
and  passed  on  the  spot  by  one  hundred  and 
one  ayes  and  one  negative,  Mr.  J.  L.  Flagg. 
The  next  morning  Mr.  Flagg  and  six  absentees 
rose  in  their  seats  and  asked  to  be  recorded  in 
the  affirmative,  thus  giving  this  road  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  votes,  the  greatest  number  ever 
given  for  a  railroad  bill  in  the  Legislature. 
This  popularity  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
managers,  instead  of  the  appliances,  too  com- 
mon in  such  cases,  introduced  their  measure 
under  the  auspices  of  such  men  as  Senators 
Palmer  and  Parker,  and  Assemblymen  Pitts, 
Selkreg,  Younglove  and  La  Bau,  men  of  the 
highest  character  in  the  Legislature.  It  has 
been  approved  almost  unanimously  by  the  pub- 
lic press  of  the  city  and  state,  and  has  the 
sanction  of  the  best  engineers. — Evt  ning  Post. 

The  Arcade  railroad,  which  passed  the  As- 
sembly last  week  by  an  unprecedented  unani. 
mous  vote — oue  hundred  and  nine — was  fought 
through  against  the  determined  opposition  of 
all  the  other  city  railroad  schemes,  and  is  the 
only  bill  which  can  pass  the  Legislature  for  the 
relief  of  New  York.  It  has  received  the  uni- 
versal commendation  of  the  press  and  public, 
with  the  exception  of  those  interested  in  a  sur- 
face road. 


NKW    YOIIK    AKCADi:    i:\ILW  VY 


69 


The  examination  of  the  scheme  before  the 
Senate  oommittee  lasted  thra  entirt  days, 
and  nearly  every  prominent  engineer  in  the 
United  stats  among  them  William  .1.  Rto- 
Alpine,  former  state  Engineer,  Ghas.  Thurs- 
ton, Nathaniel  Cheney,  Vice-President  of  the 
Agricultural  Iron  Works,.!.  N.  Greene,  Engi- 
neer of  Lake  Superior  ship  Canal,  and  Gen- 
eral Quimby,  of  the  Rochester  University — tes- 
tified to  the  perfect  feasibility  of  the  plan. 

Forty  distinct  plans   for  Broadway   travel 

have  been  laid  before  the  Legislature,  but  the 
Arcade,  in  our  opinion,  is  the  best  for  the  city; 
for  property  owners,  and  for  the  public,  and 
we  fervently  trust  that  the  Senate,  in  their  wis- 
dom, will  pass  it.  When  completed  Broad- 
way  will  beconu  ,  indeed,  tfu  wond*  r  of  tin 
world.     .V.   )'.  Eveniilg  Mail. 

The  Arcade  lias  worked  its  own  way;  year 
after  year  the  best  men  in  the  State  have  grad- 
ually gravitated  towards  it,  until  now  it  is 
the  favored  plan  of  some  of  the  best  engineers 
in  the  world.  That  it  will  become  a  law  is 
certain,  and  when  a  law,  some  of  the  largest 
capitalists  of  New  York  pledge  themselves 
that  the  work  shall  be  at  once  commenced. — 
y<  /r   Fork  I-'.r/iiu  88. 

If  ever  a  man  deserved  success  to  carry 
through  a  public  project,  it  is  Melville  C. 
Smith,  the  il<  us  ex  machina  of  the  Arcade 
Railway.  Lt  is  certainly  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent projects,  both  in  a  financial  view  and  as 
a  public  convenience,  that  has  ever  command- 
ed the  attention  of  capitalists. — N.  )'.  Dis- 
patch. 

Of  all  the  various  .schemes  proposed,  we 
see  nothing  which  holds  out  any  real  promise 
so  well  as  the  New  Broadway  plan,  officially 
known  as  the  Arcade  Railway.  One  feels  as 
lie  studies  this  plan,  a  little  like  the  fox  de- 
scribed by  Massinger,  who,  when  first  he  saw 
the  forest's  king,  the  lion,  found  his  breath 
nearly  taken  away,  but  at  last  became  familiar- 
ized with  the  great  creature,  and  began  boldly 
to  admire  and  frankly  to  criticise.  For  the  Ar- 
cade Railway  scheme  proposes  to  attempt  a  big 
thing,  which  seems  audacity  itself  at  first,  but 
which,  studied  more  closely,  begins  to  show 
itself  quite  as  feasible  as  many  a  little  thing. 
—  GkUaxy. 

The  Central  Underground  bill  boasted  A. 
T.  Stewart,  Judge  Hilton,  Senator  Campbell, 
and  one  Brown,  among  the  most  valiant  de- 
fenders.    The  Arcade   bill   ivas   defended  by 


mi   army  of  engineers,  builders,   architects, 
journalists  and  others,  mi  array  of  practical 
inh  ni  such  ns  Albany  has  »<  w  /•  »<  <  »  gdtJu  r 
ed  upon  a  sing  It  bill.     X.    )'.  Citizen, 

fin'  bill  for  the  Arcade  Underground  Rail- 
way was  taken  up  and  passed  on  Friday  night 

by  a  vote  of    In     to  1.      On    the  next  day  J.  L. 
.  of   Troy,   who    had     \oted    III    the    nega- 
tive, ohanged  his  vote,  and  seven  of  her  delegates 

were  recorded  iii  the  affirmative.  The  Arcade 
plan  has  ihiis  ii, i  proud  and  distinctivi  honor 
of  having  passed   in   a  full  housi    without  a 

dissi  nting  vote. 
The  victory  is  the  more  marked,  because  this 

corporation  is  by  no  means  the  richestof  those 
who  have  applied  for  charters,  and  has  never 
been  charged  with  attempting  to  use  unlawful 
means  in  securing  its  end.  Without  the  aid 
of  ii  luli/'.i/,  but  with  faith  and  enthusiam  that 
has  been  most  marked,  its  projectors  have  car- 
ried out  their  purpose  as  proclaimed  from  the 
start,  of  passing  the  bill  on  its  merits. — Roch- 
i  sii ,-  Di  mocrat. 

Most  of  the  leading  papers  are  strongly  in 
favor  of  the  Arcade.  Hon.  Melville  C.  Smith, 
the  author  of  the  plan,  is  urging  the  thing 
with  great  energy  and  persistence,  and  it  seems 
as  if  he  must  succeed.  It  is  by  far  the  best, 
if  not  the  only  plan  worth  naming. — Ameri- 
iiin  Baptist. 

The  Arcade  Railway  is  a  public  benefac- 
tion of  national  interest.  Nothing  of  a  tem- 
porizing nature  will  answer.  Whatt  veris  dont 
should  include  within  its  scope  the  sweep  of 
centuries  and  afford  means  of. freight  mid 
transportation  facilitii  s  fur  />uss<  nt/i  r  travel 
for  nil  thin  in  limn  .  Albany  Evening  Jour- 
nal. 

The  Arcade  road  failed  in  the  State  Senate, 
and  more's  the  pity.  It  was  an  original  and 
splendid  scheme,  one  worthy  of  the  great  me- 
tropolis, and  which  would  have  beautified  our 
noble  city.  But  the  wealthy  owners  of  prop- 
erty on  Broadway  defeated  it  by  their  money. 
/;■ '//  Estatt  Record. 

The  entire  objection  against  the  plan  comes 
from  a  few  very  wealthy  property  owners,  who 
do  not  deny  the  enormous  benefits  to  the  city 
and  the  public,  but  fancy  that  they  foresee 
some  damage  to  their  own  private  property. 
This  offset  of  limited  private  interests  against 
the  needs  and  demands  of  the  entire  popula- 
tion of  the  city,  is  thus  a  struggle  between  the 
millionaires  and  the  million. — X.  Y.   World. 


70 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PEESS. 


A  very  convincing  and  complete  argument 
was  made  by  Hon.  M.  C.  Smith,  and  the  bill 
will  probably  be  shortly  reported  by  the  Eail- 
way  Committees  of  both  houses.  The  Arcade 
plan  is  recommended  by  some  of  the  first  engi- 
neers of  the  country.  It  comes  here  with  the 
prestige  of  having  no  taint  of  corruption  upon 
it,  and  of  being  supported  and  urged  by  men 
in  both  houses,  concerning  whom  no  suspicion 
of  improper  motives  would  be  entertained. — 
N.  Y.   World. 

This  is  probably  the  most  thoroughly  com- 
prehensive and  excellent  of  any  of  the  various 
plans  that  have  been  suggested,  for  while  it 
provides  the  most  abundant  means  for  rapid 
passenger  transit  and  relief  of  the  streets,  it 
does  not  block  up  any  part  of  the  city,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  adds  enormously  to  the  available 
street  space.  In  short,  this  contemplates 
nothing  less  than  the  addition  to  the  city  of  an 
immense  avenue  which  is  to  traverse  the  heart 
of  the  metropolis,  increasing  its  wonderful 
attractions,  augmenting  the  value  of  its  prop- 
erty, and  giving  to  the  people  the  great  boon 
of  sure,  rapid  and  cheap  communication. — 
N.   >'.  Scientific  American. 

Various  plans  for  securing  what  the  public 
demand  have  been  offered,  and,  for  valid 
reasons,  objected  to.  An  ordinary  subterra- 
nean railroad  would  be  gloomy  and  in  every 
respect  unattractive,  being  of  necessity  imper- 
fectly lighted  and  ventilated . — N.  Y.  Scientific 
American. 

The  growth  of  the  city,  the  value  of  proper- 
ty, low  rents  for  the  poor  man,  elegant  and 
accessible  suburbs  for  the  rich,  the  comfort  of 
the  people,  and  the  present  wretched  system 
of  city  transit,  all  unite  to  make  this  improve- 
ment imperative. 

Among  all  the  plans  for  accomplishing  this 
result  the  Arcade  plan  is  the  best  before  the 
Legislature.  It  has  been  very  fully  discussed 
and  its  merits  and  demerits  pointed  out.  A 
proper  estimate  of  these  results  is  a  strong 
preponderance  in  favor  of  the  road.  It  meets 
opposition  from  a  few  Broadway  property 
owners,  but  has  received  the  support  of  the 
great  majority  of  the  owners,  and  of  the  people 
at  large.  It  is  not  opposed  in  the  interest  of 
the  people ;  their  interests  demand  its  con- 
struction. The  men  who  oppose  it  have  never 
done  anything  for  the  people,  but  grow  rich 
out  of  them.  They  confine  their  views  to  their 
own  interests  as  property  owners,  and,  as  that 
class  generally  do,    take   a  narrow  and   false 


view  at  that,  whereas  the  construction  of  this 
road,  by  concentrating  travel  on  Broadway  and 
then  multiplying  many-fold  its  capacity,  will 
do  more  than  anything  else  to  double  the  value 
of  property  on  Broadway.  It  is  not  their 
question  ;  it  is  the  people's  question  ;  and  the 
people  at  large  who  have  the  right  of  transit 
through  Broadway,  and  thereby  make  the  prop- 
erty owners  rich,  demand  the  road. — N.  Y. 
World. 

There  is  no  necessity  for  cumulative  reason- 
ing in  the  question  between  the  Arcade  and 
tunnel  ideas.  The  whole  matter  is  summed  up 
in  the  fact  that  the  former  is  adequate,  cou- 
rt nil  ut,  valuabh  and  thoroughly  practicable, 
i>t  r  8<  ,•  while  the  latter  is  only  relatively  val- 
uable  in  tin  absence  of  tin  former.     *    *    * 

These  data  are  of  great  value  in  determining 
the  practicability  of  the  tunnel  theory  in  this 
city,  and  point  to  the  conclusion  that  it  must 
be  ranked  as  valuable  only  for  want  of  some- 
thing better — in  a  word,  that  it  may  be  better 
than  nothing,  but  is  by  no  means  what  is  want- 
ed, and  by  no  means  answers  the  purpose  ful- 
ly. *  *  *  *  *  The  whole 
engineering  talent  of  the  city,  with  little  ex- 
ception, oppost  8  tin  tu n in  I  plan  ;  and  as  capi- 
talists in  these  matters  rely  mostly  on  the  opin- 
ions of  engineers,  it  seems  scarcely  probable 
that  the  stock  will  ever  be  taken. — New  York 
Herald. 

This  is  i  mphatically  a  want  of  the  people. 
It  will  confer  incalculable  benefit  upon  the 
masses,  the  workingmen  who  cannot  afford 
either  to  pay  for  comfortable  homes  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  or  to  live  in  remote  places 
which  it  needs  an  hour  or  two  of  their  precious 
time  to  reach.  These  are  the  people  who 
clamor  most  loudly  for  an  underground  road 
as  the  only  means  by  which  quick  and  sure 
communication  can  be  established  between  the 
city  and  the  rural  districts.  These  are  the 
people  who  will  be  most  injured  if  such  pro- 
jects are  defeated  ;  and  these  are  the  people 
whose  wants  and  interests  our  legislators  are 
bound  especially  to  consider.  We  can  under- 
stand why  this  road  or  that  road  may  be  ob- 
noxious to  this  or  to  that  citizen.  One  man 
fears  that  his  front  door  may  be  obstructed 
while  the  road  is  building.  Another  trembles 
for  the  safety  of  his  cellar,  &c. ,  &c.  So  Albany 
is  filled  with  paid  lobby  agents,  and  a  handful 
of  millionaires  bid  fair  to  defeat  the  wishes  of 
the  great  mass  of  the  people. — N.  Y.  Tribune. 


NEW  YORK  ARCADE  RAILWAY. 


71 


The  plan  known  as  the  Arcade  Railway 
has  been  before  the  last  two  Legislatures,  and, 
although  it  was  generally  denounced  at  lirst  as 

visionary,  there  is  no  oonoealing  the  fact 
that  it  has  eonstantly  grown  in  popular  favor, 
and  to-day  commands  a  larger  share  of  public 
confidence  than    any  other   scheme    for   an 

Underground  railroad  in  this  city  ever  of- 
fered to  the  public.  Its  entire  practicability 
is  vouched  for,  after  full  examination  by  the 
rirst  engineers  in  the  country,  including  Hon. 
Win.  J.  Alpine,  General  E.  L.  Viele,  General 
C.  B.  Stuart,  General  George  B.  McClellan, 
General  I.  F.  Quimby,  and  many  others.  It 
has  received  the  endorsement  of  the  New  York 
Produce  Exchange,  of  the  American  Institute, 
and  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  leading  mer- 
chants and  capitalists  of  this  city — men  like 
Commodore  Vanderbilt,  Peter  Cooper,  H.  B. 
Chvflin,  George  Opdyke,  E.  S.  Brown,  W.  T. 
Coleman,  and  others  of  this  class.  It  is,  more- 
over, an  American  inveution — entirely  unlike 
any  English  or  other  foreign  underground 
roads — and  could  readily  command  American 
capital  to  build  it,  which  no  other  scheme  for 
an  underground  road  in  this  city  has  hitherto 
been  able  to  do. — New  York  Times. 

The  Arcade  plan  is  good — it  is  feasible — 
it  is  grand.  It  will,  if  carried  out,  help  to  make 
New  York  the  wonder  of  the  world. 

The  bill  passed  the  Senate  and  Assembly 
by  an  unusual  majority  ;  so  large  that  no  ques- 
tion can  be  raised  as  to  the  favorable  opiuion 
of  the  members  of  the  Legislature.  The  testi- 
mony of  the  first  engineers  of  the  country,  the 
request  for  its  passage  by  thousands  of  pro- 
perty-holders on  Broadway,  the  demand  for 
such  relief  for  Broadway  as  this  will  briug, 
gave  the  measure  extraordinary  features  of  re- 
commendation. 

Since  its  passage,  and  while  waiting  for  the 
Governor  to  sign  or  veto,  Belmont,  Stewart, 
and  the  Trinity  Church  property  trustees  de- 
clare the  bill  shall  not  become  a  law.  Inas- 
much as  it  is  presumptuous  for  the  people  to 
move  without  the  consent  of  millionaires,  it 
may  be  well  enough  to  call  a  special  session 
of  the  Legislature  and  give  all  the  affairs  of 
State  into  the  hands  of  those  who  never  earned 
a  dollar  or  gave  employment  to  a  person — man, 
woman,  or  child — except  for  their  own  pleasure 
and  political  or  financial  aggrandizement. — 
New  York  Democrat. 

A  strong  pressure  will  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  Governor  Hoffman  to  induce  him  to  veto 
the  Arcade  Railway  bill,  which  passed  the  Leg- 


islature* by  such  a  handsome  majority.  Already 
property  owners  along  Broadway  have  held  a 

meeting  to  that  end,  which  is  said  to  have  rep 
resented  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  of  property.  That  is  a  considerable  sum 
of  money  to  stake  against  the  interest  of  the 
people,  and  we  should  not  be  surprised  if  a 
dollar  was  found  to  be  of  more  weight  in  the 
Executive  Chamber  than  a  ballot.  Not  that 
Governor  Hoffman  is  to  be  bought  off  from 
signing  this  bill  ;  but  that  the  interests  of  cer- 
tain property-holders,  and  the  Influence  they 
can  command,  will  overstop  and  overpower  the 
interests  of  the  people  who,  through  their  rep* 
resentatives,   have  voted  for  the  bill.  —  Globe. 

The  Arcade  Railroad  plan  under  Broadway, 
aside  from  its  boldness  of  design,  its  ultimate 
success  as  a  work  of  skilful  engineering,  and 
its  final  crowning  success  to  the  capitalists  as 
a  profitable  and  permanent  investment,  especi- 
ally recommends  itself  to  the  working  classes. 
Will  our  Chief  State  Executive  bear  in  mind 
that  while  a  score  of  old  fogies,  representing, 
as  they  say.  $350,000,000  capital,  are  opposing 
the  road  for  no  sound  or  tangible  reasons,  either 
expressed  or  implied,  that  500,000  working 
people  demand  the  sanction  to  the  measure 
and  the  construction  of  the  road  ?  Also,  that 
the  said  500,000  working  people,  at  $1,000  per 
head  (which  was  a  fair  valuation  for  slaves  be- 
fore the  war),  represent  $500,000,000  capital, 
and  can  control  100,000  votes? — National 
Workman. 

Does  Governor  Hoffman  propose  to  deprive 
the  people  of  New  York  and  of  Westchester 
county  of  the  means  of  rapid  transit  now  within 
their  reach,  because  a  few  omnibus  owners  and 
Broadway  millionaires  arc  determined  that 
things  shall  remain  as  they  are?  Of  what 
consequence  is  it  whether  these  gentlemen  re- 
present one  million  or  one  hundred  millions 
of  property,  so  long  as  in  this  matter  they  re- 
present only  themselves,  and  are  in  direct  oppo- 
sition to  the  interests  and  wishes  of  the  great 
body  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  doubt  that 
ninety-niru  in  a  hundred  of  our  citizens  are  in 
favor  of  any  practicable  plan  for  rapid  transit  ? 
The  project  for  the  railroad  under  Broadway 
which  is  provided  for  in  the  Arcade  bill  has 
stood  the  test  of  a  three  years'  campaign  at 
Albany.  It  has  been  subjected  to  every  pos- 
sible criticism,  and  has  triumphantly  answered 
all  objections.  Unable  to  argue  longer  against 
it,  its  enemies  are  now  endeavoring  to  frighten 
the  Governor  from  signing  the  bill  granting  it 
a  charter.       * 


72 


THE  VOICE  OF  THE  PRESS. 


The  Governor  must  understand  the  respon- 
sibility he  assumes  if  he  refuses  to  sign  this 
bill.  It  was  passed  by  a  vote  of  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  members  of  the  Legislature. 
in  answer  to  a  great  popular  demand,  and  after 
a  most  thorough  investigation  and  discussion 
in  committee  and  in  the  two  Houses.  It  is  a 
wise,  sound  and  honest  bill.  It  promises  a 
greater  benefit  to  this  city  than  any  measurt 
that  has  passed  tht  Legislaturt  sina  the  act 
which  authorized  tht  building  of  tht  Croton 
Aqueduct.  It  will  be  a  blessing  to  all,  the 
rich  as  wt  u  as  tin  poor  ;  and  if  n  ft  w  rich 
men  now  defeat  it,  they  will  harm  themselves 
much,  but  they  will  harm  tht  great  public 
more.  Let  us  see  whether  the  Governor  has 
the  wisdom  to  serve  the  many,  or  the  weak- 
ness to  bow  to  the  dictation  of  a  few. — 
New  York  Sun. 

The  Governor  ought  to  sign  this  bill.  *  *  * 
It  is  not  strange  than  an  opposition  should 
spring  up  to  this  plan  of  relief,  nor  that  the  op- 
ponents should  be  the  men  who  will  reap  the 
largest  benefit  from  it  if  it  be  carried  out.  ( '<>n- 
ceding  to  these  property  owners,  who  visit 
Albany  in  such  strong  force  to-day,  that  they  are 
correct  in  arguing  that  the  construction  of  the 
Arcade  road  will  damage  their  property  in- 
terests, there  is  still  no  reason  for  the  Gover- 
nor to  veto  the  bill.  It  is  in  the  mv\  nature 
of  the  thing  that  public  improvements  involve 
a  sacrifice  of  private  interests.  There  is  not  a 
railroad  in  the  State  tliat  did  not,  at  the  outset, 
encounter  just  this  sort  of  united  opposition 
from  the  property  owners.  There  is  not  a  land- 
owner who  did  not  cry  out  against  the  destruc- 
tion of  his  property,  and  refuse  to  believe, 
what  every  one  now  sees,  that  it  would  incfeast 
its  rati"  t,  ii  fold.  It  was  men  of  the  same 
wealthy  class  that  made  so  vigorous  an  oppo- 
sition to  the  Hudson  River  Railroad,  which 
had  no  other  purpose,  BO  far  as  they  were  con- 
cerned, than  to  turn  their  useless  acres  into 
villa  sites  worth  tens  of  thousands  of  dollarB. 
These  men  have  no  sense  of  public  interest,  nor 
care  for  the  growth  of  the  city  :  they  do  not  Bee 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  their  own  coiner  lots, 
and  they  join  the  monotonous  procession  who 
exert  all  their  force  in  holding  hack  the  horses. 
They  should  adopt  this  as  their  motto:  Pro- 
gression checked  ami  retrogression  encouraged. 

For  tin  siik,  of  th<  greater  rental  they 
voluntarily  undergo  the  destruction  of  an  old 
building,  the  great  outlay  of  capital  in  building 
a  new  one,  and  the  loss  of  a  year's  rent.     They 


confess  the  advantage  of  these  progressive 
changes ;  and  a  second  thought,  of  the  kind 
that  leads  men  to  the  apprehension  of  the  ob- 
vious, would  show  them  that  they  can  do  no 
more  profitable  thing  than  const  ut  to  the  inter- 
ruption occasioned  by  the  construction  of  the 
Arcade  road.  But  this  class  of  men  never  did 
such  a  thing  voluntarily.  They  have  to  be 
sweetly  forced  to  their  own  profit.    ' 

Whatever  increases  this  travel  and  the  settle- 
ment of  this  sort  of  population  will  benefit 
Broadway.  It  is  just  as  possible  now  to  double 
values  there  as  it  is  certain  that  they  have  been 
doubled  there  within  the  past  ten  years;  and 
th<  Arcadt  road  will  do  it.   *  * 

The  Central  Underground  has  been  two  years 
incorporated.  It  has  had  to  struggle  with  a 
poor  route  and  a  defective  plan.  It  has  made 
no  progress  in  the  public  confidence  ;  that  is, 
in  procuring  subscriptions.  Capital  rejects  it. 
It  should  not  be  allowed  to  block  the  way  of 
the  Arcade.  Tht  Arcadt  has  tin  merits  of 
tin  bestroutt  dint  th<  best  plan,  and  tht  public 
interests,  including  tic  trut  interests  of  tht 
mi  ii  who  oppost  it,  require  the  Governor  to 
sign  this  bill.  —  Tin  .V.  K  World. 

The  reasons  assigned  by  Gov.  Hoffman  for 
lmt  assenting  to  the  Arcade  Railway  bill,  though 
Bpecious  and  specific,  are  not  well  founded  nor 
honestly  urged.  The  Governor's  objections  are 
not  such  as  will  commend  themselves  to  the 
people  of  this  city.  Having  made  up  his  mind 
to  defeat  this  purpose  on  behalf  of  our  over- 
crowded streets,  he  assigns  for  it  the  reasons 
which  come  t<>  him — not  as  a  reason,  hut  an  af- 
terthought. Rut  how  is  the  Governor  to  answer 
to  the  people  of  New  York  for  denying  them  the 
relief  they  so  urgently  demand?  In  obedience 
to  a  few  property  owners  he  has  dwarfed  the 
great  city  of  proportions  ami  defeated  the  most 
feasible  scheme  for  building  up  the  neighboring 
counties  iii  this  State,  while  his  action  assures 
to  New  Jersey  a  large  part  of  our  overflowing 
population.  It  passed  <i  Democratic  Senate 
and  <<  Dt  mocratic  Asst  mbly  by  largt  majori- 
ties, and  was  s,  nt  to  a  Democratic  Governor 
for  his  sanction.  It  passed  becaust  its  pas- 
sagt  was  impt  rat  in  ly  i/<  ma  ml,  ,1.  With  Gov. 
Hoffman  rests  the  responsibility  of  the  failure 
of  a  million  of  people  to  travel  through  New 
York  as  rapidly  as  they  could  travel  through 
London. — New  York  Standard. 

Gov.  Hoffman  has  sent  to  the  Secretary  of 
State,  without  his  approval,  the  act  authorizing 
the  construction  of  the  Broadway  Arcade  Rail- 
road.    His  principal  objection  seems  to  be  that 


NEW   YOUK   ABCADE  RAILWAY. 


7:; 


nothing  is  required  to  be  paid  into  the  city 
treasury  in  return  for  the  privileges  which  the 

bill  professes  to  confer  upon  the  railroad  com- 
pany. Considering  that  all  the  citizens  and 
property  holders  in  fcheoitj  would  be  immensely 
benefited  by  it,  this  objection  would  seem  to  be 
much  more  ea  pi  to  us  than  solid.      The  ( iovernor 

might  better  have  contented  himself  with  refus- 
ing to  sign  the  bill,  and  m>t  have  argued  the 
question  at  all. 

The  simple  truth  is,  that  Gov.  Hoffman 
has  succumbed  to  the  pressure  brought  to  bear 
upon  him  by  some  of  the  millionaires  who  own 
real  estate  on  Broadway,  and  who  fear  that 
the  Arcade  Railroad  may  possibly  diminish  its 
value.        II<     h08    tnki  n    tin     8ide   of  tin     rich 

against  tht  poor;  of  the  capitalist  against  tin 
laboring  classes :  of  tin   aristocrats  against 

tin  people.  He  has  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the 
toy  of  the  toiling  thousands  who  demand  cheap 
and  rapid   transportation   between   the  upper 

and  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  and  listened  only 
to  the  appeals  of  gentlemen  with  heavy  bank  ac- 
counts.— New  York  Sun. 


Governor    Boffman    has    sent    the   Arcade 

Railroad  bill    to   the    office   of   t  In- Secretary  of 

State  without  his  signature.  We  do  aol  pro- 
prose  to  review  his  reasons.      \n   attempt  to 

answer  or  confute'  them  would  be  asabsurd,  ;it 

this  stage  of  the  question,  as  for  the  defeated 

counsel  in  a  lawsuit  to  offer  to  re-argue  the  case 

after  the  judge  had  pronounced  his  decision. 

We  have  given  expression  to  the  public  sense, 
and  have  advocated  the  Arcade  Railroad  be- 
cause it  seemed  the  most  feasible  ami  promising 
method  of  reaching  the  desired  r  suit.  The 
reasons  which  convinced  us  were  indorsed 
by  a  strong  body  of  public  opinion,  and  bya 
large  majority  of  both  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature. 

Tin  (tori  rinn-'s  ohji  el  inns  nrr  In  In  n  i/nrili  it 

mi  n  tn  as  n  asons  1'ir  framing  n  in  m  hi/'  to 
accomplish  the  same  object.  We  hope  the  next 
Legislature  will  pass  a  bill  authorizing  the 
construction  of  the  Arcade  railroad. 

We  trust  that  the  veto  merely  postpones  this 
great  work  for  another  year.  —  The  X.  Y.  World. 


PASSENGER    TRAFFIC 

OF 

NEW  YORK  CITY. 


The  following  table  of  official  figures  exhibits  the  Lines  of  Railways  and 
Passenger  Traffic  in  New  York  City,  from  the  year  1853  to  1886,  as  related  to 
growth  of  population. 

Population.                  Railways.  PasBenger  Traffic. 

1850      515,547      2                 1858  6,835,548 

1854  6,817,197 

1855      629,810      4                 1855  18,488,459 

1856  23,153,050 

1857  22,190,431 

1858  27,900,388 

1859  32,888,794 
1860      813,669      6                 1860  36,455,242 

1861  26,274,360 

1862  36,878,044 

1863  40,412,357 

1864  60,900,200 
1865       726,386      12                  1865  82,054,516 

1866  88,953,016 

1867  100,541,562 

1868  105,816,695 
18(59  114,349,123 

1870      942,292      12                 1870  115,139,553 

1871  133,893,981 

1872  143,696,989 

1873  145,358,805 

1874  151,927,233 
1875     1,045,223      19                 1875  166,918,173 

1876  168,413,971 

1877  163,936,298 

1878  170,189,502 

1879  187,983,792 
1880     1,206,299      23                 1880  211,222  348 

1881  231,386,771 

1882  252,871,646 

1883  23                 1883  268,749,877 

1884  23                 1884  284,115,862 

1885  25                 1885  297,116,690 


THE   OFFICIAL  FIGURES  IN  DETAIL  OF  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC 

FOR   1885. 

Name  of  Road.  Number  of  Passengers. 

Broadway  &  7th  Avenue,          -------  21.952.C29 

Central  Cross  Town          .._-----  3,666,017 

Central  Park,  N.  &  E.  Eivers,  -------  15,0(56,770 

Christopher  &  10th  Streets,      - 4,316,777 

Dry  Dock,  East  Broadway  &  Battery,        -----  17,419,852 

Eighth  Avenue,         ---------  13,664,391 

42.1  &  Grand  Street  Ferry,        -------  8,208,552 

Harlem  Bridge,  M.  &  F, 3,296,738 

Houston,  West  Street  &  Pavonia  Ferry,    -----  4,352,704 

New  York  &  Harlem, -  15,972,361 

Ninth  Avenue, 4,175,580 

Second  Avenue, 19,367,370 

Sixth  Avenue, -        -        -  16,998,137 

South  Ferry,  (retnrra  arise*)  --------  546,851 

Third  Avenue, 32,000,000 

23d  Street, -  10,311,145 

Manhattan  Elevated,         --------  103,354,729 

42d  Street  &  St.  Nicholas  Avenue, 2,445,587 


297,116,690 
Adding  3  Omnibus  Lines,  9  months,  -  13,500,000 

Produces  a  total  passenger  traffic  for  1885,        -  310,616,690 


INCREASE   OF  PASSENGER  TRAFFIC   FOR   EIGHT  YEARS. 

Total  number  of  passengers  carried,  exclusive  of  omnibuses,  1885,   297,116,690 

1877,   163,936,298 


Increase  in  8  years, 133,180,392 

The  above  figures  show  that  the  natural  growth  of  passenger 
travel  for  the  8  years,  exceeds  the  total  traffic  of  all  the  elevated 
roads  by -        -  29,825,663 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  above  table  that  in  the  year  1885  the 
Third  Avenue  Horse  Railroad  carried  over  32  million  persons. 

That  five  horse  car  lines  carried  -----         107,737,888 

That  four  elevated  railroads  carried    -----         103,354,729 


Excess  of  five  surface  roads  over  four  elevated  roads,  -  4,383,159 


INCREASE  OP  TRAFFIC,    COMPARED  WITH  GROWTH  OF  POPULATION, 
AND  ESTIMATES  FOR  THE  FUTURE,  BASED  UPON  THE  SAME  : 

The  increase  of  Population  during  the  present  century  lias  aver- 
aged 46A  per  cent,  per  decade,  and  passenger  traffic  during  20  years 
past  lias  increased  141fV  per  cent,    per  decade,   or  as  3i$Su  for  Pas- 
senger traffic  to  1  for  Population  ;    upon    this   basis   the    traffic   in 
1890  would  be  ---------        -        509,045,858 

1900  "  ------.._     1,226,800,517 

Selecting  as  a  basis  of  calculation  the  semi-decade  from 
1875  to  1880  (remarkable  for  great  financial  depression),  showing 
the  lowest  percentage  of  increase  of  travel,  viz.:  as  15  of  popula- 
tion to  27  of  Traffic,  or  approximately,  2  of  Traffic  to  1  of 
Population,  the  passenger  traffic  in  1890  would  be  422,444, 696 

1900  "  ...     844,889,392 

It  will  be  seen   that,   at  the  lowest  estimate,   provision   will 
have  to  he  made  for   an   increase  of  traffic  within  six    years,  or  in 
1890,  of        ----------         -      138,328,834 

and  li)  years  hence,  or  in  1900,  of  .-.-_.      560,973,530 


ADDITIONAL  ACCOMMODATIONS  INVARIABLY  PRODUCE   GREATLY 
INCREASED  RATIO   OF   TRAVEL. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  railways  in  operation  and  average 
number  of  passengers  carried  yearly  by  each,  and  demonstrates  that  increase  of 
travel  is  stimulated  and  in  a  large  decree  governed  by  the  additional  accommo- 
dations furnished. 

carried.        each.  4,622,114  total        18,488,459 

6,075,873  "  36,455,242 

6,837,876  "  82,054,51)5 

8,785,167  "  166,918,173 

12,352, si  13  «  2sl,115,862 

At  no  time  in  the  history  <-i  passenger  traffic  of  the  City  Lave  the  accom- 
modations been  sufficient,  and  invaiiably  the  construction  oi  additional  rail- 
ways has  been  followed  by  a  remarkable  increase  in  passenger  travel.  The 
need  tor  additional  transit  facilities  was  never  before  as  urgent  as  now,  and 
with  a  continuous  yearly  increase  of  more  than  twenty  millions  constantly  swell- 
ing the.  demand,  it  is  evident  that  additional  provisions  to  meet  this  necessity 
must  immediately  be  made. 

January,  1886. 


Railway?. 

In  L855 

4     c 

••  I860 

6 

"  1865 

12 

"  1875 

L9 

"  1884 

23 

